Altantuya Shaariibuu was brutally murdered in Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia (CNA).
This was a high-profile murder case which was also a showcase of the Malaysian judiciary internationally, involving a Mongolian national and went all the way up to the top (CNA).
The world watched in silence like the unfolding of a series which took sharp turns, twists, u-turns and mysteries from 2008 onwards and still continues to move on slowly.
On 19 October 2006, a report was lodged to the police and the Mongolian consulate in Bangkok. The remains of her bones were found near a dam in Puncak Alam, Shah Alam by the Malaysian police. She was believed to have been shot dead and C-4 explosives were used to eliminate her remains which could only be identified by a DNA test. The two arrested for her murder were bodyguards, to the Prime Minister at that time, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and Abdul Razak Baginda were also charged with abetting the murder (ALIRAN).
Abdul Razak Baginda, a prolific political analyst in Malaysia was said to have had a relationship with Altantuya and was remanded for 5 days for kidnapping her. In November 2006, he was brought before the Magistrate's Court accused of conspiring to kill Altantuya, along with Chief Inspector Azilah Hadri, and Constable Sirul Azhar Umar, at his office on 18 October 2006. Abdul Razak Baginda was charged and If convicted he could get the death penalty.
Najib Tun Razak was alleged to have introduced Altantuya to Abdul Razak Baginda, at an international diamond convention in Hong Kong. Abdul Razak Baginda and the deceased had an intimate relationship, she accompanied him to France as a translator to negotiate the purchase of Scorpène-class submarines for the ministry of defence (SCMP).
Liberation, a French newspaper reported that Altantuya found out that a French company Armaris, paid out commissions of 114 million euros for the purchase of three submarines credited in the accounts of Perimekar, a company controlled by Abdul Razak Baginda. A letter blackmailing Abdul Razak Baginda, seeking $500,000 for her silence was found after her death.
Raja Petra Kamaruddin, the then Malaysia Today editor, linked Najib Tun Razak with the Altantuya murders which the latter later denied as there was no proof. In a statutory declaration, Raja Petra Kamaruddin mentioned that his sources informed him that Rosmah Mansor, Acting Col Abdul Aziz Buyong and Norhayati, his wife, were on site to witness the Colonel set the C-4 on Altantuya’s dead body to explode (MalaysiaToday).
Afraid of being prosecuted for giving false statements, Raja Petra Kamaruddin retracted his allegation of the involvement of Najib Tun Razak and Rosmah Mansor when the case went to court. He left his family behind in Malaysia and fled to the UK (Malaysiakini).
On June 4, 2007, the writ of summons was filed by Karpal Singh & Co at the Shah Alam Civil High Court. Shaariibuu Setev, Altantyuya's father filed a suit against all those implicated and the Malaysian government for RM100 million in damages for Altantuya's death but on 17th December 2022, the court ordered the Government and the three involved to pay RM 5 million to the Altantuya’s family which was 95 million short of what they had claimed (FMT).
During the trial, Altantuya's cousin Burmaa Oyunchimeg said that the deceased had shown her a photograph of Abdul Razak Baginda, Najib Tun Razak and her having a meal together.
Karpal Singh, the watching brief for the victim's family, filed a notice of motion to call 4 new witnesses, including Najib Tun Razak, to testify in the trial but it was rejected by the High Court stating that only the prosecution and the defence had such a right to such a petition.
Abdul Razak Baginda was acquitted on 31 October 2008, and the prosecution said they would appeal but they did not. 16 years later incriminating evidence emerged against Abdul Razak Baginda which was that on the day of her disappearance, a police report was lodged by the deceased at Tun H.S. Lee Police Station, to look for Abdul Razak Baginda if anything had happened to her.
The request by the defence counsel that the witness statements of Najib Tun Razak and his former aide Musa Safri were not allowed to be used to counter Abdul Razak Baginda's affidavit as privileged and not allowed under Section 112.
Found guilty of murder, the two were sentenced to death. Sirul Azhar pleaded to the court for leniency and told the court that he was "a black sheep that has to be sacrificed" to protect unnamed people who have never been brought to court or faced questioning. "I have no reason to cause hurt, what's more, to take the life of the victim in such a cruel manner... I appeal to the court, which has the power to determine if I live or die, not to sentence me so as to fulfil others' plans for me." (FMT).
In their appeal, the Court of Appeal acquitted them on the grounds of failure of the prosecution to substantiate a motive for the murder and to cross-examine Najib Tun Razak and Musa Safri. An appeal to the Federal Court overturned the earlier acquittal finding them once again guilty and sentenced to death. Sirul Azhar was detained by Australian immigration after he had escaped to Australia before the Federal court appeal. Australian Law does not permit the extradition of individuals if they are on death row (Malaysiakini).
The Malaysian Judicial system has become more independent today and seems to practise the separation of powers compared to what it was 16 years ago when people of power were seen to be above the law. Let us hope this carries on for the sake of the Rakyat.
Sources: Al Jazeera Video, 60 Minutes Australia
Eashwerdass is a content creator under the Newswav Creator programme, where you get to express yourself, be a citizen journalist, and at the same time monetize your content & reach millions of users on Newswav.
Log in to creator.newswav.com and become a Newswav Creator now!
Newswav is solely an aggregation platform and hosts the content. The views expressed and content above including media (pictures, videos, etc) were provided by the author. If you have any questions about the content, copyright or other issues of the work, please contact Newswav.
