Friday decision on Altantuya murder appeal

The verdict on the appeal of two police Special Action Unit force members convicted of murdering Mongolian translator Altantuya Shaariibuu will be delivered by the Court of Appeal on Friday.

Hasnal Rezua Merican, one of the lawyers for Corporal Sirul Azhar Umar, confirmed this with Malaysiakini late this evening.

"Yes it is true. The registrar has informed us that the verdict will be delivered at 9am on Friday," Hasnal Rezua said.The three-member Court of Appeal panel headed by Justice Md Apandi Ali had deferred the decision after hearing submissions two months ago from lawyers Hazman Ahmad and J Kuldeep Kumar for Chief Inspector Azilah Hadri and Kamarul Hisham Kamaruddin and Hasnal Rezua for Sirul.

The prosecution was led by Deputy Solicitor-General III Tun Abdul Majid Tun Hamzah in the two-day hearing of the appeal last June.

The other two judges on the bench are Justices Linton Albert and Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat.

Azilah and Sirul were convicted by the High Court in Shah Alam of murdering Altantuya at a jungle clearing near Puncak Alam, Shah Alam, between 10pm on Oct 19 and 1am on Oct 20, 2006.

During the appeal process, the court heard Sirul's application that failure to call the then deputy prime minister Najib Abdul Razak's former aide de camp DSP Musa Safri constituted a mistrial as his presence in the trial could have vouched for the statutory declaration of political analyst Abdul Razak Baginda (above, left).

The lawyers also submitted that the type of explosives used in the murder were not kept in Bukit Aman's stock.

Tun Abdul Majid (right) in his reply said no one should attribute the murder to Najib and “just because Abdul Razak knew Najib and Musa, you cannot attribute everything to the then deputy prime minister”.

He further submitted there was no need for Musa to testify as it was only Azilah who had met with Abdul Razak and that the chief inspector had admitted that "what he did was on his own".

The appeal is being closely watched by the Mongolian authorities. Altantuya's father Shaariibuu Setev had filed a civil suit against the Malaysian government in connection with the death of his daughter.

The French authorities are also looking into the matter following allegations of alleged kickbacks paid in Malaysia's purchase of two French-built Scorpene submarines.