Altantuya Shaariibuu Murder case update

[Rockfella]

Guys, do you know the reason why these 2 policemen have their faces covered by hood, clothes, towels each time they appear in public on their way to the courtroom?
The police do not wish to show their faces.These 2 policemen will be prosecuted and found guilty of murder. Their sentence will be life inprisonement. But then, for how long are they going to be in prison - it's not going to be life inprisonement. Maybe they shall spend 1 or 2 years in jail and then walk a free man.You and me and the whole Malaysian public do not recognise these 2 guys when we meet them on the street. That's the reason their faces has been covered or hidden each time they are shown on tv or news.

[remaong]

SHAH ALAM: Chief Inspector Azilah Hadri denied the prosecutor's suggestion that he was in Puncak Alam to shoot and blow up Mongolian Altantuya Shaariibuu on the night of Oct 19, 2006.

On the third day of his defence on Monday, he maintained that on the night Altantuya was murdered, he was with his fiancee and they had a meal together in Wangsa Maju.

After that, he had gone back to the Special Action Unit (UTK) headquarters in Bukit Aman, he said.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Tun Abdul Majid Tun Hamzah said: "I tell you, after you left Bukit Aman, you, Corporal Sirul Azhar Umar and the Chinese woman went to Puncak Alam, killed and blew up the deceased, then you returned to Bukit Aman.

"Then between 10.43pm and 11.28pm you were at the incident scene with Sirul and shot and blew up the deceased."

Azliah replied: "I disagree."

Azilah, 32, and Sirul, 36, both UTK operatives, are accused of murdering Altantuya, 28, in Mukim Bukit Raja between 10pm on Oct 19, 2006 and 1am the following day.

On Oct 31 last year, the High Court acquitted and discharged political analyst Abdul Razak Abdullah Baginda, 48, of abetting them in Kuala Lumpur between 9.54am on Oct 18, 2006 and 9.45pm the next day without calling him to enter defence.

Azilah told the court that on Oct 19, 2006 between 9.41pm and 11.52pm, he was not at the incident scene because he was at his office in Bukit Aman.

He also said he had met his fiancee at about 10.30pm and they went to a mamak shop in Wangsa Maju and spent about 45 minutes there before he returned to Bukit Aman.

He also disagreed with the deputy public prosecutor's suggestion that he and Sirul had brought Altantuya to Puncak Alam through the New Klang Valley Expressway (NKVE) and exited through the Damansara Toll Plaza at 9.57pm.

Tun Majid: "I say to you, Razak's problem ended on that night after you and Sirul shot and blew up Altantuya in Puncak Alam."

Azilah: "Disagree".

He said that on Oct 19, 2006, he did not carry a firearm because he had handed it over to Sub Inspector Megat Rosli earlier that day.

"I do not remember the time, but after the briefing on the Hong Kong assignment I handed over my weapon to Megat Rosli," he said.

Tun Majid: "I say your weapon was with you because you were on duty on Oct 18 and 19, 2006."

Azilah: "Disagree."

He also said he did not carry a firearm when patrolling the area of Razak's house and when looking for Altantuya at Hotel Malaya in the afternoon of Oct 18, 2006.

Tun Majid: "Do you agree that on Oct 18, 2006, when you went to Razak's office, Razak's house, Central Market and Hotel Malaya, you were still armed?"

Azilah: "The firearm was with me when I went to Encik Razak's office and when I went to Encik Razak's house after that. When I returned to the office in Bukit Aman, I left the weapon in the cabinet."

Tun Majid: "Why did you not carry it along, why did you leave it?"

Azilah: "I left it, it was a nuisance at the waist, what for. I cannot stand having a weapon at the waist."

He also denied telling Razak "tonight Encik can sleep soundly" by phone.

The hearing before Justice Datuk Mohd Zaki Md Yasin continues on Tuesday.

- Bernama

Source

[remaong]

SHAH ALAM: Chief Insp Azilah Hadri said he had no motive to murder Mongolian national Altantuya Shaariibuu and that doing so would have been tantamount to stupidity.

“I have no reason, I am a police officer,” C/Insp Azilah, 32, said in testimony.

Unit Tindakan Khas (UTK) operatives C/Insp Azilah and Kpl Sirul Azhar Umar, 36, claimed trial to murdering the 28-year-old translator between 10pm on Oct 19 and 1am on Oct 20, 2006 at Mukim Bukit Raja here.

The two had been ordered on Oct 31 to enter their defence against the murder charge.

Questioned by Kpl Sirul’s lawyer Kamarul Hisham Kamaruddin, C/Insp Azilah said he did not know Altantuya personally.

He said he and Kpl Sirul had no involvement with political analyst Abdul Razak Baginda’s problems or with her. He said he also did not receive any order from Razak, who had been earlier acquitted of an abetment charge, to injure Altantuya.

However, C/Insp Azilah admitted that he had communicated with Razak and his friend DSP Musa Mohd Safri, who was a minister’s aide-de-camp, between Oct 20 and Oct 22.

He agreed with Kamarul that he had received 10 missed calls from Razak since the early morning of Oct 21.

Asked further by Kamarul if he had spoken to Razak at 1.34am on Oct 21 for 99 seconds, C/Insp Azilah said he could not remember the exact time.

Asked if Razak had called him again at 1.48am that day and spoke to him for 72 seconds, he said he could not recall.

He also admitted that there was a missed call by DSP Musa at 9.40am on Oct 21 and that he had talked to him for three times that same day.

When asked if he had received an SMS from Razak at about 10pm on Oct 22, he said he could not recall.

At the outset of the hearing, C/Insp Azilah disagreed with a suggestion by DPP Tun Abd Majid Tun Hamzah that he showed C/Insp Koh Fei Cheow and his police team the site at Puncak Alam where Altantuya was shot and blown up.

He said the police team had asked him to show her bones at the crime scene but he could not find a single one.

At the end of proceedings, Justice Mohd Zaki Md Yasin queried C/Insp Azilah repeatedly on why he kept referring to Altantuya as a Chinese woman, to which he said Razak had referred to her that way.

Justice Mohd Zaki asked him again if Razak had ever mentioned her as a Mongolian woman, he said no.

The judge also asked C/Insp Azilah repeatedly on why he followed Kpl Sirul behind his jeep on the day Altantuya was to be sent to her hotel.

“That road could lead to the town centre and also to Bukit Aman. I did not know where Sirul was going,” he said.

C/Insp Azilah also told the judge he was aware that Hotel Malaya was equipped with a CCTV system on the day he went to meet Altantuya there because he noticed the camera upon entering the hotel.

Later, C/Insp Azilah’s lawyer Datuk Hazman Ahmad said his client had completed his evidence and he did not plan to call any other defence witness.

Kamarul then said he would ask for some time to prepare a written statement for Kpl Sirul to testify in dock.

Kamarul also said he would be making an application on Wednesday for the prosecution to hand over DSP Musa’s 112 (witness) statement and categories of SMSes which were not used during the prosecution’s case for preparation of his client’s defence.

The judge set Wednesday to hear the application.

Source

Related Article

[rimong]

Altantuya murder accused Corporal Sirul Azhar Umar broke down as he read his 15-page statement from the dock this morning.

He pleaded with the judge Datuk Mohd Zaki Md Yasin not to convict him as he was made a scapegoat to cover up for certain parties.

He took 55 minutes to read the statement, giving detailed information the events on the night Altantuya Shaariibuu was murdered.

The Special Action Squad member also broke down when he touched on his ex-wife, saying his superior ACP Mastor Mohd Ariff had told him the woman had lodged a police report against him.

Mohd Zaki fixed Feb 16 for submissions.
Meanwhile, the defence team in the Altantuya Shaariibuu murder trial closed their case after Sirul read out the statement.

Source

BM Version - Utusan

[expatriate81]

From The Star ......



Published: Tuesday February 10, 2009 MYT 8:43:00 PM
Updated: Tuesday February 10, 2009 MYT 8:51:11 PM
Raja Petra trial: ‘Najib not involved’
By M. MAGESWARI


PETALING JAYA: A chief investigator repeatedly denied that Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak was involved in the killing of Mongolian translator Altantuya Shaariibuu when the counsel for Malaysia Today Raja Petra Raja Kamarudin tried to link the Deputy Prime Minister to the murder.

The former ISA detainee attempted this at his sedition trial Tuesday through his counsel Gobind Singh Deo during the cross-examination of the chief investigator, Supt Gan Tack Guan.

Supt Gan, 50, who is Interpol’s National Centre Bureau assistant director based at Bukit Aman, said a statement was not taken from Najib as he was not involved in Altantuya’s murder.

When pressed further, he said Najib was an important witness.

“It is my opinion that every witness is important. We have seen his connections. Najib is not involved in this case,” said Supt Gan, who is also a complainant in the sedition trial.

When asked if it was not important to record a statement from Najib when he was considered an important witness, Supt Gan claimed Najib had been slandered.

When asked how he knew Najib was not involved in the murder although the Deputy Prime Minister was among four people implicated in Altantuya’s murder, Supt Gan said he had the chance to study the investigation papers.

“I am the supervisor for the investigations of the Altantuya case. I had a team of investigators to assist (investigating officer) Asst Supt Tonny Lunggan for the case. Investigations revealed that Najib is not involved,” he testified at a Sessions Court here.

Raja Petra had on May 6 last year claimed trial to publishing a seditious article on the news portal on April 25.

The 59-year-old is accused of publishing the article Let’s send the Altantuya murderers to hell on the website http://www.malaysia-today.net. The article is alleged to have contained nine paragraphs of seditious words.

The blogger is said to have committed the offence at his house on Jalan BRP 5/5 in Bukit Rahman Putra, Sungai Buloh, that day.

When Gobind Singh suggested that there was a reason for Gan not to question Najib as the police knew that Najib was involved in Altantuya’s murder and the police had no guts to reveal this in their investigations, Gan disagreed.

He denied that he was not in the position to substantiate his police report against Raja Petra.

“Actually I lodged a police report (against Raja Petra) as certain contents of the article were simply fabricated,” he said.

To a question, he said he did not underline the paragraphs of the alleged seditious article.

He disagreed to a suggestion that it was not his decision to lodge a police report against Raja Petra and that it was a politically motivated decision to do so.

Supt Gan also admitted that three accused persons in the Altantuya murder trial had denied killing her.

He agreed that police investigations had revealed that two policemen implicated in her murder trial at Shah Alam High Court had murdered Altantuya.

He agreed that one area of police investigations was that the two policemen had been paid to murder her.

He disagreed that there were several paragraphs in the seditious article which were fair comment and factual.

When asked that Altantuya could be the seventh victim in light of Razak’s affidavit which was affirmed on Jan 4, 2007, he agreed.

He said he had read Razak’s affidavit but did not investigate its contents.

The hearing before Sessions Court judge Rozina Ayob will continue on Thursday.

-------------------------------------------------------

expatriate81 says .....

IT SURE LOOKS LIKE THEY ARE ALL TRYING VERY HARD TO INSULATE THE DPM FROM INVOLVEMENT, DIRECT OR OTHERWISE. DON'T YOU THINK THE SUPT. HAD BEEN THOROUGHLY BRIEFED ALL ALONG ON HOW TO TOW THE LINE? ONLY AN IMPORTANT WITNESS & NOT A PARTICIPANT? THERE HAS TO BE A NEXUS!

THE SUPT. APPEARS TO BE BIASED & COULD BE CHARGED WITH PERJURY. AND YES, A TRULY INDEPENDENT COUNSEL SHOULD HAVE BEEN INVESTIGATING THE CASE, BUT THIS IS MALAYSIA, WITH A JUDICIAL SYSTEM THAT STINKS TO HIGH HEAVEN.

[smeagol]

Altantuya murder trial: Judgement on April 9

The Altantuya Shaariibuu murder trial finally ended today, more than two years after her murder.
Shah Alam High Court judge Datuk Mohd Zaki Md Yain has fixed April 9 for decision at the end of the defence case.

Chief Inspector Azilah Hadri and Corporal Sirul Azhar Umar are charged with murdering the Mongolian woman.

NST

[eLaine]

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[smeagol]

Who really killed Altantuya Shaariibuu?

According to the Shah Alam High Court, we will know on April 9.

On that day, it will deliver its verdict on whether two elite cops Chief Inspector Azilah Hadri and Corporal Sirul Azhar Umar are guilty of shooting her and then bombing her body to pieces to prevent identification.

But will the long-running case end there? Unlikely, for the story of the hauntingly beautiful 28-year old Mongolian translator - alleged to have been Deputy Premier Najib Abdul Razak’s mistress - is likely to live on in folklore in both the physical and cyber worlds.

And it is easy to understand why. Regardless of how the court decides - even if it metes out its worst sentence of death to the pair - justice will still not be seen to have been served.

Obviously, there are still too many unanswered questions.

That they remain unanswered until even now, more than two years after the murder, is already a huge blot on the country’s ruling Umno-BN party and the institutions it has failed to uphold.

Regrettably, the diabolical intertwining between the country’s legal, judiciary and political systems is not only countenanced but actively fostered.

Even RPK may be silenced

In wrapping up the government’s case today, deputy public prosecutor Manoj Kurup shot down the defence statements of both Azilah and Sirul as being “littered with inconsistencies, discrepancies and improbabilities”.

“Not only have the two sets of defences not raised any reasonable doubts on the prosecution’s case with respect to the guilt of each accused, it is clear that each accused is trying to blame the other for the murder.

“The several strands of circumstantial evidence that the prosecution has painstakingly proved have remained unrebutted, unexplained and unanswered by both accused persons in this case. The combined strength of those strands of evidence, when twisted together, has formed two ropes, strong enough to hang each accused person for the murder of Altantuya.”

Yet the government has been content to acquit political analyst Razak Baginda, a close associate of Najib’s, who was charged for abetting the two cops in the murder.

Neither has the government’s prosecutors seen fit to call on Musa Safri, Najib’s aide-de-camp to testify or to reveal his statement made to the police. Musa’s importance in the case can be gauged by the revelation that he was the one who introduced Razak to Azilah.

Meanwhile, an emotional Sirul has asked for a mistrial. His lawyers argued that the prosecution failed in producing a “material witness” - Musa.

Azilah, Sirul’s colleague from the Special Action Unit tasked to look after Najib’s security, is sticking to his claim that he was never at the scene of the murder and had an alibi.

Will the real story ever unfold, and more importantly, will all guilty parties - including those who indirectly participated in her gruesome killing, even if they did not slay her with their own hands - ever be brought to justice?

If anyone has more details to offer, it would be Raja Petra Kamaruddin. But even RPK - the straight-talking controversial blogger - may finally be silenced.

Come next Monday, the nation’s most beloved blogger may have to go back to the Kamunting Detention Centre, where he can expect to be locked up for at least two years under the country’s infamous Internal Security Act.

[antujelu]

Altantuya murder trial: Judgement on April 9

The Altantuya Shaariibuu murder trial finally ended today, more than two years after her murder.
Shah Alam High Court judge Datuk Mohd Zaki Md Yain has fixed April 9 for decision at the end of the defence case.

Chief Inspector Azilah Hadri and Corporal Sirul Azhar Umar are charged with murdering the Mongolian woman.

NST

for sure they will get no charges...

[Starliner]

Sebuah akhbar Perancis mendakwa timbalan perdana menteri pernah bertemu mangsa bunuh Altantuya Shaariibuu di sebuah kelab di Paris pada 2005 bersama Abdul Razak Abdullah Baginda.

Dalam laporan Liberation hari ini, Datuk Seri Najib Razak didakwa pernah bergambar bersama mereka berdua, yang didakwa pasangan kekasih, bertentangan dengan penafian tokoh politik itu sebelumnya.

Timbalan perdana menteri menafikan pernah mengenali atau bertemu wanita Mongolia itu yang mati dibunuh di sebuah belukar di Shah Alam.

Beliau juga pernah bersumpah mengenali wanita itu sewaktu diserang hebat oleh pembangkang pada pilihanraya kecil Permatang Pauh, Ogos tahun lepas.

Keputusan kes bunuh tersebut yang melibatkan dua anggota pasukan elit Unit Tindakan Khas (UTK) akan diketahui awal bulan depan.

Abdul Razak, yang sebelum ini dituduh bersekongkol dengan anggota polis itu, dibebaskan daripada pertuduhan tersebut.

Selain cerita sensasi ini, wartawan Liberation turut mendedahkan saat-saat akhir kematian Altantuya berdasarkan dokumen yang didakwa diperolehi daripada polis Malaysia.

Arnaud Dubus melaporkan, Altantuya ditembak di sebelah pipi kiri dan kemudian pakaian mangsa ditanggalkan dan kemudian mayatnya dibungkus dalam beg plastik hitam.

Altantuya ditembak sekali lagi apabila tangannya dilihat masih bergerak.

Dubus, wartawan Perancis yang berpangkalan di Bangkok, juga berhasrat mendedahkan pembunuhan wanita itu - berhubung komisyen pembelian kapal selam untuk Kementerian Pertahanan - dalam projek bukunya akan datang.

[MiriBoyz]

Altantuya murder trial: Judgement on April 9

The Altantuya Shaariibuu murder trial finally ended today, more than two years after her murder.
Shah Alam High Court judge Datuk Mohd Zaki Md Yain has fixed April 9 for decision at the end of the defence case.

Chief Inspector Azilah Hadri and Corporal Sirul Azhar Umar are charged with murdering the Mongolian woman.

NST

for sure they will get no charges...

I agree with you. The will be set free like Abdul Razak Baginda.

[Starliner]

This is a report from Arnaud Dubus, a French reporter based in Thailand, which is published in Liberation French newspaper, 5th of March 2009. The English version is as following:

Shaaribuu Setev is a bitter and disappointed man. Yet behind the saddened face of this Mongolian lies a fierce determination. Seated in a sofa in the lobby of an Ulaan Baataar hotel rattled by gushes of a freezing wind, this sixty years old man is ready to fight. His face features, hardened by the suffering and the stern climate, and his intense gaze tell all. “My daughter has been murdered by Malaysians on Malaysian territory. And they did not have even offer a word of apology,” states this professor of psychology at the National University of Mongolia.

The assassination of his daughter, Altantuya Shaaribuu, took place in October 2006. This was a murder unlike others in a region where business conflicts or petty politics are often settled with a gun. Everything in this case, which started in 2002 when the French Spanish company Armaris concluded the sale of three submarines to the Malaysian government for the amount of one billion Euros, is out of the ordinary.

The impact of the “Altantuya case” in France, Malaysia and Mongolia has yet to reach its climax. The murder of the 28 year old Mongolian was the result of a “commission” at the price of 114 million Euros by Armaris to its Malaysian counterpart. This “commission,” which was acknowledged by the Malaysian government in front of the Parliament in Kuala Lumpur, has triggered a chain of events that has led to the assassination of Altantuya and the disappearance of several key witnesses in the case.

A report from the Malaysian police, written on 19th november 2006 and which has been kept secret until now, reveals dry and precise descriptions as to how this young woman, a member of Asian high society, has been killed. In this document, one of the killers, a policeman of the Malaysian Special Branch named Sirul Omar, replied to the questions of an officer at a police station close to the murder scene. “When the Chinese woman saw that I was taking a gun, she begged me to spare her, saying she was pregnant. Azilah (the commanding officer of Sirul) grabbed her and [threw] her on the ground. I immediately shot the left side of her face. Then Azilah took off her clothes and put them in a black plastic bag. Azilah noticed that her hand was still moving. He ordered me to shoot again, which I did”, said Sirul. This is the first confirmation of Altantuya’s assassins’ identity. “Then we carried her body into the woods. Azilah wrapped the explosives around her legs, her abdomen and her head, and we exploded her.”

The revelation of this report in the French newspaper Liberation is the latest chapter in this colorful and dramatic saga featuring French weapon sellers, Mongolian Shaman, and Malaysian politicians. This case is explosive not only for the Malaysian government, since the deputy Prime minister Najib Razak (who is scheduled to become Prime minister at the end of March) is suspected of having links to the case, but also because it could embarrass the DCNS, this French company specialising in military shipbuilding. The French Spanish company Armaris, which sold two Scorpène and one Agosta submarines to Malaysia in June 2002, was bought by DCNS in 2007.

With her magnetic beauty and sophistication, Altantuya is reminiscent of the troubling image of a Far East Mata Hari. She grew up in Saint Petersburg (Russia), then studied at the Institute of Economic Management in Beijing. Besides speaking English, she is fluent in Russian, Chinese and Korean. The fateful cycle for Altantuya came into gear when she met Abdul Razak Baginda in Hong Kong in 2004. Baginda is a security expert and the director of the Malaysian Strategic Research Centre, a pro-government think tank. The two quickly became romantically involved. Altantuya, nicknamed Tuya by her friends, proved to be a useful assistant, helping Baginda translate from Russian to English.

Whereas Altantuya is young and beautiful, the rich and alluring Baginda is a well known figure of the Kuala Lumpur’s elite, notably because of his proximity to the Malaysian Deputy Prime minister and minister of Defense Najib Razak (he is also his security affairs adviser). Baginda parades in the most exclusive circles of Kuala Lumpur, sometimes accompanied by his legitimate wife.

In March 2005, Altantuya and Baginda departed for Europe, touring France, Germany, Italy and Portugal in the red Ferrari of Baginda, staying in posh hotels and dining in the finest restaurants of the old Continent. This trip, however, was not only for tourism: the contract for the sale of the submarines had been signed in 2002, but important details had yet to be settled. “We knew that Baginda was used by Deputy Prime minister Najib Razak as an intermediary for weapons systems deals, especially the high level ones,” says a regional security affairs expert.

At the end of March 2005 the couple was in Paris, where they met with Najib Razak. A picture shows the threesome in a Parisian private club. “Tuya showed me the pix. She said that one of the men was her boyfriend, Abdul Razak Baginda, and the other the “big boss”, Najib Razak. I asked her if they were brothers because of the names, but she said no, and that Najib Razak was the ‘prime minister’”, said Amy, Altantuya’s best friend (Najib Razak has sworn on the Koran that he has never met Altantuya). According to a private detective, now in hiding in India, the beautiful Tuya was also the occasional mistress of the deputy Prime minister, who was introduced to her by Baginda at the end of 2004.

The story became dramatic when, in October 2006, Altantuya was informed that the commission paid by the French-Spanish company Armaris had arrived on a Kuala Lumpur bank account. It had been paid to Perimekar, a company owned by Baginda. Altantuya rushed to Kuala Lumpur, in order to claim her share of the commission from Baginda ; she said she was entitled to 500,000 dollars. Baginda and Altantuya broke up prior to this. A jealous Rosmah Mansor, the feared businesswoman and wife of Najib Razak, objected any payment to Altantuya. Altantuya arrived in Kuala Lumpur with two other Mongolian women, one of them was a Shaman responsible for putting a spell on Baginda if he refused to pay. For several days, Altantuya harassed her ex-lover.

On the 18th of October, Baginda could no longer tolerate the daily scenes made by Altantuya in front of his house. He contacted the Director of the Special Branch, Musa Safrie, who happened to also be Najib Razak’s aide de camp. On October 19th, 2006, a little before 9 pm, two police officers of the Special Branch, Azilah Hadridan and Sirul Omar, were sent in front of Baginda’s house where Altantuya was gesticulating and shouting. They had the order of “neutralizing the Chinese woman.” They kidnapped her, and drove her ten kilometers away and shot her several times. Then, they destroyed her body with C 4 explosives, a type which can only be obtained from within the Defense Ministry. Her entry into Malaysia was erased from the immigration records. It would appear that Altantuya had never come to Malaysia, because there is no trace left of her.

There is no perfect crime. The taxi driver hired by Altantuya for the day did not appreciate that his passenger was kidnapped under his eyes without payment for the fare. He took note of the registration plate of the kidnapper’s car and filed a complaint at the local police station. In a few days, the police identified the car and realized that it was a government vehicle.

Events unfolded that even the Deputy Prime minister Najib Razak could not impede. He tried to cover the case. A few hours before the arrest of Baginda, he sent him a SMS : “I will see the Inspector General of Police at 11 am today… The problem will be solved. Be cool”. A few hours after, Baginda was arrested as well as the two police officers of the Special Branch, Azilah and Sirul.

After a trial considered dubious by many observers, Baginda was acquitted with the accusation of having ordered the murder and released in November 2008. Accused of having perpetrated the murder, Azilah and Sirul appeared in front of the Court last month. If convicted, their sentence is death. The verdict is scheduled for the 9th of April.

Thousands of miles from there, in the Mongolian capital city Ulaan Baataar, Shaaribuu Setev, Altantuya’s father, is trying to control his anger. To him and his family, the acquittal and release of Baginda is symbolic of the unfairness of the Malaysian judicial process: “The Malaysian government is not even answering to the letters from the Mongolian Foreign Affairs Ministry,” he says.

When Shaaribuu came to the Malaysian parliament to meet Najib Razak, the Deputy Prime minister had to escape through a back door in order to avoid an embarrassing encounter. The Altantuya case has become a key element of the Malaysian political game between Najib Razak (who is expected to become Prime Minister after the United Malay Nation Organisation (UMNO) Congress in March) and the opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim. So far, Najib Razak has navigated around the obstacles, but the murder of the young Mongolian remains a sword suspended over his head.

One of the most obscure aspects of the Altantuya case is the role of the Armaris company. In October 2007, the Malaysian Deputy Defense minister, Zainal Abdidin Zin, acknowledged in front of the Parliament that Armaris had effectively paid 114 million Euros in commission to Perimekar. He maintained that it was not a bribe, but a payment for “support and coordination services.”

Was there corruption as in the case of the Taiwanese frigates in which the French DCNS was also implicated ? DCNS, a private company with public financing, has declined our request for a meeting. “Nobody can comment on this case,” was the sober reply of the DCNS Press relations officer in Paris. A document, which could establish a link between Altantuya and the French company is the guarantee letter written by Abdul Razak Baginda so that his mistress could obtain a visa to enter the Schengen zone (of whom France is a member country). The French embassy could not refuse this service to a man decorated with the Legion d’Honneur. But the role of Altantuya in the submarines negotiations is still not clear. Intelligence agencies find her background intriguing and the Russian FSB (ex-KGB) is following closely the case.

In Ulaan Baataar, Mungunshagai, the eldest son of Altantuya, who is 12 years old, is traumatized by the death of his mother. Altanshagai, the youngest, who is five years old and mentally handicapped, has not understood that he will never see again his mother. “He is asking for her all the time and is staying the whole day prostrated on his chair. Every evening, I bring him sweets and I tell him that his mother gave it to me for him”, says Shaaribuu Setev, the grandfather of the two boys. As for Baginda, he settled down in the United Kingdom with his family. He never uttered a word of regret on the deadly fate of the one who shared his life for two years.

Arnaud Dubus (in Kuala Lumpur, Ulaan Baataar and Paris)

Source
BM Version

[ghost]

gobin singh just got suspended for a year from dewan rakyat because he made a statement about the murder of altantuya link with najib

[chrispearlee]

wow...good suggestion brother....

[tsyen75]

Altantuya murder: Its death for Azilah and Sirul

SHAH ALAM: Chief Inspector Azilah Hadri,32, and Corporal Sirul Azhar Umar, 36, were found guilty and sentenced to death for the murder of Mongolian woman Altantuya Shaariibuu three years ago.

Judge Datuk Mohd Zaki Md Yasin said that the two had failed to cast any doubt on the prosecution's case and that they only blamed each other.

He said that he had analysed and tested all submissions by all the parties.

Azilah, 33, is represented by two counsels, Datuk Hazman Ahmad and J. Kuldeep Kumar while Sirul Azhar, 37, who is represented by Kamarul Hisham Kamaruddin, Hasnal Redzua Marican and Ahmad Zaidi Zainal.

In the high profile trial that hogged the local and international media, the duo were charged with murdering Altantuya, who was 28 then, between Lot 12843 and Lot 16735 Mukim Bukit Raja near here, between 10 pm, Oct 19 and 1 am, Oct 20, 2006.

Initially they were tried together with the Executive Director of Malaysian Strategic Research Centre (MSRC), Abdul Razak Abdullah Baginda, 48, who was charged with conspiring in the murder of Altantuya.

However on Oct 31, 2008, the political analyst walked out a free man after the court found that the prosecution had failed to furnish proof on an important element on the conspiracy charge.

Abdul Razak since has left to United Kingdom and is said to be taking up PhD at Oxford University.

While Azilah and Sirul Azhar who pleaded not guilty are hoping to be released, the prosecution is going all out to prove they are the ones behind Altantuya's murder and the disposal of her remains using explosives.

The prosecution team consisting of Deputy Public Prosecutor Tun Abdul Majid Tun Hamzah, Noorin Badaruddin, Manoj Kurup and Hanim Rashid stressed in their submissions that Azilah and Sirul Azhar are the people behind Altantuya's murder.

Based on the evidence gathered from prosecution witnesses, the explosive used to blow up Altantuya's body was probably placed in her mouth.

Manoj noted at the end of the prosecution's case that both accused had the motive to kill and it was a preplanned crime.

Manoj noted that several circumstantial evidence that the prosecution tried to prove were never denied, explained or answered by both defendants.

"Several of the strong evidence deduced from the testimonies when spun together will make two ropes that are strong enough to hang each one of them.

"The prosecution has proven beyond reasonable doubt on the actions of the duo calls for their conviction on the murder carried out with the common intention," he had said.

Azilah who started his testimony on Jan 15 stated that he had no motive to kill or destroy the woman and instead he only met Altantuya to advise her politely not to harass Abdul Razak or create a ruckus outside the latter's home.

Azilah also told the court that he was ordered by a superior, DSP Musa Safri to help Abdul Razak and thus he would not have done something stupid like killing and what more when he was a policeman.

While defending himself Sirul Azhar broke down a few times and related to the court that he has been made the 'sacrificial lamb' in the murder.

The case has set many records including being the most number of days for hearing (159 days) and 84 witnesses at the prosecution stage and two at the defence stage, and it remained the high profile case for almost two years before Abdul Razak was released.

According to records, Azilah has been incarcerated at the Sungai Buloh Prison for 891 days while Sirul Azhar 895 days.

While there are many conspiracy theories still going around, the verdict on Sirul Azhar and Azilah may put to an end many of these theories.

The Star