Altantuya's dad came face to face with Najib

Setev Shaariibuu, the father of murdered Mongolian translator Altantuya Shaariibuu, came face to face with Prime Minister Najib Razak in Parliament yesterday, but failed to make any contact with him.

Shaariibuu, who is in Malaysia with two Mongolian government officers on a three-day visit, said he saw Najib while waiting for the lift at the Parliament lobby.

"At one point, the door of the lift opened and there was Najib with a few others but he did not come out and I couldn't even shake his hand," he told Malaysiakini through an interpreter.

However, Najib had made no attempt to acknowledge Shaariibuu and the latter was rather stunned to have come so close with the prime minister.

"This is the second time that I had come to see him. The other time was in 2007, when I visited Parliament for the first time, but he had left through another exit," Shaariibuu said.

Shaariibuu and his companions were in Parliament house to hold a press conference with Pakatan Rakyat MPs on his disappointment that his civil suit was yet to commence even after the two policemen accused of Altantuya's murder had been sentenced to death.

The university professor had in 2007 filed a RM100 million civil suit against the government, political analyst Abdul Razak Baginda and the two policemen who were charged with Altantuya's murder.

He is demanding compensation for the sufferings of his family members, including two of Altantuya's sons, from sorrow and physical and mental anguish from his eldest daughter's brutal death in Malaysia.

Shaariibuu denies being bribed

At the press conference, Shaariibuu denied talk that he received money from the Malaysian government to "shut up" and said he would continue to seek full disclosure on the circumstances leading to his daughter's death in 2006.

"Many questions remain unanswered despite the fact that the two police personnel have been found guilty of murder," he told reporters.

Shaariibuu has also agreed to be a witness for human rights NGO Suaram, which filed a case against French shipbuilder DCNS for allegedly paying commissions, involving millions of ringgit, to top Malaysian officials. Such payment is a criminal offence in France.

At a closed door meeting with Suaram officials yesterday, Shaariibuu was briefed on the case involving the purchase of two Scorpene class submarines by Malaysia in 2002, which has begun in a Paris court.

Suaram director Cynthia Gabriel (above) said the NGO, through its lawyers, has taken a statement from Shaariibuu for submission to the French court, which would then decide if the Mongolian national is to be called as a witness.

Gabriel said she has explained to Shaariibuu that the case in France concerned illegal kickbacks to top Malaysian officials and was not centred on Altantuya's murder.

"We believe Shaariibuu has much to contribute to the case in France, and we will be forwarding his name and statement to the investigating judges," she told Malaysiakini.

"He has new information, related to the alleged corruption, which would be very useful to the trial," she added.

The paying of commissions to close business deals is illegal in France and two investigating magistrates - Roger Le Loire and Serge Tournaire - have been appointed by the Paris Tribunal de Grande, which hears corruption cases.

Shaariibuu to reveal more details in France

If he takes the stand, Shaariibuu said, he would be able to share what he knows about the deal, about which his murdered daughter informed him before she left for Malaysia in October 2006.

However, he added, through the interpreter, that "a daughter may not tell her father everything" and suggested that the person who shared the most information with Altantuya had been her good friend Burmaa Oyunchimeg.

Burmaa (left), a Mongolian, was a witness in the murder trial of the two policemen in 2007.

"Her knowledge includes Altantuya's travel log and the payments she was promised as part of her work for "certain companies", which she told to me about, before she left for Malaysia," he added.

Altantuya, who spoke fluent Mandarin, English, French, Mongolian and Russian, worked as a translator for the procurement of the Scorpene submarines that cost Malaysia some RM7.3 billion.

She was also believed to be the jilted lover of Razak Baginda, a close ally of Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak, who was deputy prime minister and defence minister when the deal with the French company was inked.

Two of Najib's bodyguards - Azilah Hadri and Sirul Azhar Umar - have been convicted and sentenced to death for killing Altantuya with C4 military explosives at a jungle clearing in Shah Alam between Oct 19-20, 2006.

Razak was charged as well, but was acquitted without having his defence called, which prompted Suaram to file the case in Paris through lawyers William Bourdon and Joseph Brehem from Sherpa, a non-profit NGO working on legal and human rights cases.

Najib has denied that he ever knew Altantuya or was involved in her murder, and has sworn his denial on the Quran.

A lawyer for the submarine builder, Olivier Metzner, told French daily Le Parisien that "we have already demonstrated to the investigators that there was no corruption in this case".

The appeals of Azilah and Sirul Azhar against their death sentences will be heard by the Court of Appeal on Aug 27-28.

Grandson works to support family

Shaariibuu also met with veteran lawyer Karpal Singh at his office yesterday, to discuss the status of his suit, which has been delayed without any progress so far.

Shaariibuu also expressed, through his interpreter, how sad he was with the delay in the hearing of his civil suit.

"Our sufferings continue. My 14-year-old grandson has to work part-time to support the family," he said.

"It's been six years since my daughter died so inhumanely in Malaysia, but we are still unable to get justice for her death, or see a closure to this case," he added, looking much distraught.

Karpal, who is also DAP national chairperson, explained that Shaariibuu's civil suit could only commence after the appeal by the two policemen found guilty was completed, and he vowed to continue fighting for justice for Altantuya.