MP: Focus on ex-AG, cops and judges in Altantuya murder case as well

Thirteen years after Altantuya Shaariibuu was shot dead and her remains blown up with explosives in a secondary forest in Shah Alam, one of her convicted killers has claimed that he had acted on the orders of former premier Najib Abdul Razak.

In 2015, the Federal Court had upheld the conviction of former police special action force (UTK) chief inspector Azilah Hadri and another personnel from the elite unit Sirul Azhar Umar for the murder and sentenced the pair to death.

While Sirul managed to flee Malaysia after the Court of Appeal overturned the High Court's conviction and is now in an immigration detention centre in Australia, Azilah, however, had spent the last four years on death row in the Kajang prison.

The courts, however, did not establish a motive for the murder of the Mongolian national.

Following Azilah's damning allegations in a statutory declaration (SD) filed together with an affidavit seeking a judicial review of the Federal Court's decision and a retrial, DAP lawmaker Lim Lip Eng said the authorities must re-examine the entire saga from start to end.

“Since the onset, the trial was shrouded in controversy,” he told Malaysiakini this evening.

Among others, he said, the prosecution did not call Najib's former aide de camp, DSP Musa Safri, to testify during the trial.

“The motive behind her murder was never revealed because the judge was reported to have said that 'motive, although relevant, has never been essential to constitute murder.'

“The prosecution did not appeal [Abdul] Razak Baginda's acquittal. The immigration department did not have any record of Altantuya entering Malaysia,” he added.

In his SD, Azilah had outlined Musa's alleged role in the “covert operation”, which led to Altantuya's murder.

He also claimed that Razak Baginda, who was a close associate of Najib, had also asked him to kill the woman.

According to Azilah, both Najib, who was then deputy premier, and Razak Baginda had purportedly convinced him that Altantuya was a foreign spy who posed a threat to national security.

Razak Baginda was initially charged with abetting the murder but was later discharged.

Demanding a re-investigation into the fresh allegations, Lim, who is also a lawyer, said the authorities must not only focus on whether Najib and Razak Baginda had ordered the killing.

He said the actions of the then attorney-general Abdul Gani Patail, the police officers who conducted the investigation, the DPPs who prosecuted and the judges who heard the case must also be scrutinised.

“This definitely warrants a re-investigation by a new police team or perhaps a Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI).

“The ex AG, prosecutors, judges, lawyers and others involved in the trial should help the new investigation team to see that justice is done,” he added.

Lim said if investigations revealed that there was collusion to protect certain individuals, then those involved must also be brought to justice.

In his affidavit seeking a review, Azilah had claimed there was suppression of evidence and material facts during the proceedings at the High Court and Court of Appeal.

Meanwhile, Najib had dismissed the allegations as a fabrication and accused the Pakatan Harapan government of wanting to silence him and divert attention from its shortcomings.