Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and his former aide-de-camp Deputy Superintendent Musa Safri may be called to give evidence in a civil suit filed by Altantuya Shaariibuu's father, Setev, against Putrajaya.Lawyer Ramkarpal Singh, who is representing Setev, said the stalled lawsuit could now proceed after the verdict of the Federal Court which today found the two police commandos – Chief Inspector Azilah Hadri and Corporal Sirul Azhar Umar – guilty of murdering the Mongolian model in 2006.
"Najib and Musa will be subpoenaed to testify in the case. But I do not know if they will attempt to make applications to exempt them from coming to court," he told The Malaysian Insider.
Ramkarpal said he would be writing to the Shah Alam High Court to fix a date for case management so that the trial could be held as soon as possible.
"The suit was in the backburner because the high court wanted the criminal trial to be concluded first," he said.
He said the guilty verdict against Azilah and Sirul gave Setev the edge in his suit.
"The prosecution had proved their case beyond reasonable doubt which is of a higher burden to secure the conviction. In our civil suit, it is on the balance of probability which is of a lower threshold," said Ramkarpal.
Setev filed a RM100-million civil suit against Abdul Razak Baginda, Azilah, Sirul and Putrajaya in June 2007.
Razak, a close ally of Najib, was initially charged with abetting in the murder but was later acquitted without his defence being called.
Setev filed the suit on behalf of his wife Altantsetseg Sanjaa and their two grandsons Mungunshagai Bayarjargal and Altanshagai Munkhtulga who were minors.
The couple are guardians of Altantuya's children. The younger one suffers from a medical disorder which requires expensive treatment.
The family is seeking damages for "suffering, sorrow, as well as physical and mental anguish".
A five-man federal court bench chaired by Chief Justice Tun Arifin Zakaria sentenced the cops to death after allowing the government's appeal over the murder .
Federal court judge Tan Sri Suriyadi Halim Omar, who delivered the ruling, said the prosecution proved its case beyond reasonable doubt.
"The Court of Appeal's order is set aside. The order of conviction and mandatory death sentence against the cops by the high court is restored and affirmed," he said.
On August 23, 2013, the Court of Appeal allowed the appeals brought by Azilah and Sirul and acquitted them.
Four years earlier, High Court judge Datuk Zaki Mohd Yassin found the two guilty and sentenced them to death.
Evidence in court revealed that the Mongolian translator was either murdered by C4 explosives or was killed first and the remains destroyed on October 18, 2006, in the outskirts of Shah Alam, near the capital city Kuala Lumpur. – January 13, 2015.
- See more at: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/najib-musa-safri-may-testify-in-altantuyas-family-suit-against-putrajaya#sthash.eCaS0u0B.dpuf
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