SOMEWHERE between the hours of 10am on Oct 19, 2006, and 1am on the following day, 28-year-old Mongolian model and translator Altantuya Shaariibuu was believed to have been shot dead before her body was blown up with explosives at a secluded spot near the Subang Dam in Puncak Alam, Shah Alam.
Three men were charged with the brutal murder. However, one of them (Abdul Razak Baginda, believed to be the late model’s ex-boyfriend) was acquitted and discharged when the prosecution failed to adduce a prima facie case at the trial stage at the High Court, leaving the two remaining accused (police officers Azilah Hadri and Sirul Azhar Umar, from the Bukit Aman Special Action Unit) to face the music.
They were subsequently found guilty by the High Court on April 10, 2009 and sentenced to death. On appeal, the Court of Appeal quashed the conviction of both appellants on Aug 23, 2013.
On further appeal by the prosecution, the Federal Court in January 2015 allowed the appeal, set aside the decision of the Court of Appeal and restored the conviction and sentence of the High Court.
However, by that time, Sirul Azhar had absconded to Australia. That was phase one of the Altantuya case.
Last week, phase two of the murder case began when the murdered victim’s father, Dr Setev Shaariibuu, lodged a police report regarding his daughter’s murder at the Dang Wangi police station in Kuala Lumpur. He was accompanied by his lawyer, Ramkarpal Singh.
Ramkarpal told reporters that the police report was made to jump-start the reopening of investigations into Altantuya’s murder. He explained the case needed to be reopened as some important witnesses were not called to give evidence at the trial in 2009. One such “crucial witness” who should have been called is Deputy Superintendent Musa Safri, he said.
Ramkarpal later told reporters (after he and his client had met Attorney-General Tommy Thomas) that there were “positive signs” the case would be probed again “following the emergence of new leads”.
He is “optimistic” that the issue of motive and who ordered the murder of Altantuya (the two critical questions which remained unanswered at the trial) would be investigated further.
While he is not at liberty to reveal what the “new leads” are, he said there is “enough basis” for the case to be reopened. The attorney-general did not indicate a time frame when the case would be reopened, but gave an assurance that there would not be any delay.
On the issue whether it was necessary for Sirul Azhar to be extradited from Australia for the case to be reopened, Ramkarpal said there was no need for that because there are “enough leads locally”.
Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Mohamad Fuzi Harun was quoted by the media last month as saying that the police had not found any grounds to reopen investigations into the case.
According to Razak’s testimony at the trial, he met Altantuya in Hong Kong in 2004.
They had an affair but it ended when she harassed him for money.
He hired a private investigator and also sought help from Musa to protect his family. He was then introduced to Chief Inspector Azilah Hadri.
When Altantuya appeared in front of his house one night to harass him, Razak requested help from Azilah and Sirul, and the two police officers took the Mongolian model away. That was the last time he saw Altantuya.
Razak was acquitted and discharged by the court on his abetment charge on Oct 21, 2008, because the prosecution failed to prove a prima facie case at the close of the prosecution’s case.
Many found it strange that the prosecution did not appeal against the acquittal, despite pleas by Altantuya’s father.
The case therefore proceeded against Azilah and Sirul, which subsequently ended in their conviction and sentence.
It had been a painful 12 years since his daughter was murdered, but Setev Shaariibuu never wavered or lost heart in his quest for justice for her.
After meeting the attorney-general last week, he was given a chance to meet Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, accompanied by Ramkarpal.
Ramkarpal told reporters that Dr Mahathir had agreed that the case “warrants further investigation”, but insisted that “the process must follow the rule of law”.
He said that it was “a very satisfactory meeting” and that the prime minister had spoken “in detail” regarding the case with his client.
For the last 12 years what had been a mystery and a puzzle for everyone who had been following this case is what possible motive Sirul and Azhar (as officers of the elite Special Action Unit at Bukit Aman) had to kill Altantuya? Wikipedia described the Special Action Unit (commonly known as Unit Tindakan Khas) as an urban area counter-terrorism, hostage rescue and special operations police unit of the Royal Malaysian Police.
The unit performs as a high-level national Special Weapons And Tactics or SWAT team and the officers in the unit also undertake “undercover missions”.
The objective of this second phase of the investigation is to find out who ordered the murder and why. Sirul and Azhar cannot be tried again because they are now protected under the double jeopardy rule enshrined under Article 7 of the Federal Constitution.
The same principle applies to Razak. This fresh (second phase) of the investigation must be able to point the finger at a completely new person, the mastermind who ordered the two UTK officers to carry out the killing.
The question is will investigators be able to find out anything credible and admissible after a lapse of 12 years?
The writer formerly served the Attorney-General’s Chambers before he left for practice, the corporate sector and, then, the academia.
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