Question is WHO ORDERED THE KILLING?

Case reopens doubts about Malaysian justice system

By Razak Baginda's own cautioned statement to the police, he grew tired of Altantuya and broke up with her after a year-long affair in which he gifted her thousands of dollars. However, she flew to Malaysia to demand as much as US$500,000, according a letter found after her death. The two bodyguards, Chief Inspector Azilah Hadri and Corporal Sirul Azhar Umar, were to be paid RM50,000 to RM00,000 to kill Altantuya, according to a confession by Sirul which was never produced in court.

Written by John Berthelsen, Asia Sentinel

The politically-charged appeal of two elite Malaysian police bodyguards who were sentenced to death two years and nine months ago for the 2006 murder-for-hire of Mongolian translator and party girl Altantuya Shaaribuu is due on Feb. 10 in Malaysia’s Court of Appeal.

The High Court trial, in which everything appeared to have been done ignore the question of who hired the two killers, stands in vivid contrast to the appeal filed by prosecutors on Jan. 19 in the case of Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim, in which everything appeared to have been done to bend the evidence to try to put the 64-year-old Anwar behind bars. As Judge Mohd Zabidin Mohd Diah pointed out in his not-guilty verdict, “the court cannot be 100 percent certain that the DNA evidence against Anwar was not contaminated.”
The two bodyguards, Chief Inspector Azilah Hadri and Corporal Sirul Azhar Umar, were to be paid RM50,000 to RM00,000 to kill Altantuya, according to a confession by Sirul which was never produced in court.

Although the three-judge court is expected to hear arguments, it is unsure if the verdict on the appeal by the two will be concluded on that date. Even if it is, according to criminal defense lawyer Manjeet Singh Dhillon, that is unlikely to be the end of the case. If the two are found guilty once more, they have the right of appeal to the Federal Court, Malaysia’s highest tribunal. That could take as long as another 2-1/2 years, Dhillon said in an interview.

Although the Malaysian court system has been working to shorten the length of time appeals take, delays remain. However, the length of time this particular case is taking is extraordinary, Dhillon said. Indeed, however, he said, the appeal in Anwar’s case could take a similar amount of time. As with the Sirul-Azilah case, Anwar’s appeal to the Federal Court could also take another two and a half years after the appellate verdict.

The murder case been linked to the fortunes of Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak. Azilah and Sirul served as bodyguards in an elite police unit supervised by Najib, then the country's deputy prime minister. It has continued to dog him as bloggers and journalists from France and other countries have continued to question his involvement. Also on trial with the two, but acquitted without having to put on a defense, was Altantuya's jilted lover and one of Najib's best friends, political analyst Abdul Razak Baginda.

From the start of the year-long trial, during which prosecutors and the judge were hurriedly switched without warning, to the end, when the verdict was delayed since February 2008 until after the United Malays National Organization convention that named Najib party leader and thus prime minister, the case has appeared more about suppressing evidence than determining the guilt or innocence of the accused.

Asked about the failure of investigative agencies to attempt to discover why no attempt had been made to ascertain who had hired the two to kill the woman, Dhillon responded: “Frankly, that is ridiculous. It clearly shows the intention of the investigative agency. If you are a hired killer, someone has hired you, and he is a far greater criminal, whoever it is. If I am the head of the investigative agency, I would want to know who the mastermind is. Everybody wants to sweep this under the carpet.”

The murder was one of the most gruesome in recent Malaysian memory. It is a tale worth repeating. By several accounts, the then-28 year-old woman, who was executed with two bullets to the head in a jungle clearing near the suburban city of Shah Alam and whose body was blown up with military explosives, was at the center of a massive scandal over the purchase by Malaysia of two French submarines and the lease of a third.

The sale of the submarines and other vessels by the French government-linked military contactor DCN to Malaysia, Pakistan, Taiwan. India and other countries have been investigated sporadically by prosecutors who have alleged it involves a string of murders and kickbacks paid to some of France’s top political figures.

Altantuya, then Razak Baginda's lover according to Razak Baginda’s testimony to police, reportedly was a translator in the purchase, which cost Malaysian taxpayers €1 billion (US$329.1 billion in current dollars). The purchase netted a company controlled by Razak Baginda €114 million in "commissions," according to testimony in Malaysia's parliament.
By Razak Baginda's own cautioned statement to the police, he grew tired of Altantuya and broke up with her after a year-long affair in which he gifted her thousands of dollars. However, she flew to Malaysia to demand as much as US$500,000, according a letter found after her death. Other reports alleged the payment was for her part in the purchase of the submarines.
As she stood in front of Razak Baginda's house, demanding that he come out, the two policemen, accompanied by a policewoman, swooped down on her, tossed her into the back of a car, and she was never seen alive again.
In a cautioned statement that was never introduced in court, Sirul testified that in her last moments, Altantuya begged for her life, saying she was pregnant. Sirul said he and Azilah had attached explosives to the woman's legs up to her abdomen and her head, raising questions why they had sought to destroy her abdomen rather, for instance, than her hands, which could identify the body. Presumably the explosives would have destroyed any DNA samples of whose baby was inside her, if any.

P. Balasubramaniam, a private detective hired by Razak Baginda to keep the woman away from him, swore in an intensively detailed statutory declaration that he was told by Razak Baginda that Altantuya had been the lover of Najib as well, that she liked anal sex, and that she had been passed on to the analyst because Najib intended to become prime minister and didn't want a sex scandal hanging over his head.

In the declaration, Balasubramaniam said he had seen text messages from Najib after Altantuya disappeared, telling him to "be cool" and that he would take care of the matter. After delivering his statutory declaration, Balasubramaniam was summoned to a Kuala Lumpur police station, where he was forced into a total recantation of the document. He and his entire family disappeared. There apparently was never an attempt made by the court trying the three men to find him and ask him to testify as to the accuracy of the statement.

Comments (12)..

written by plato, January 27, 2012 12:43:40

Razak`s,Bala`s and RPK affidavits can be used. ...

written by Ben Nordin, January 27, 2012 12:43:02

Do you really think that people believe that Altantuya is Razak Baginda's lover? Hahaha. Razak Baginda just took the fall for some flip flop. And for that he was rewarded handsomely. Who has the power to erase immigration records showing Altantuya came into Malaysia vis KLIA? Who has the power to order the bodyguards to kill? I doubt Razak Baginda has that kind of power. Why did Jibby text Razak Baginda and told him "Matter will be solved. Be cool." at the on set of the Murder trial?
Malaysians, don't be so naive. ...

written by fidlot, January 27, 2012 12:41:31

Whoever holds power in Ammno regime....is equavalent to a Gd of BoelehLand.

This Gd of BolehLand....can even turn the sun into a moon. What is there for a pesky opposition seeking to overthrow this fraternity of evil scourged?

Work hard, keep lot of money and migrate whenver opportunity arises

Leave this shit to them unluky ones thats support such racist regime when the oil runs dry. ...

written by Fart Fart Wah, January 27, 2012 11:59:47

Question is WHO ORDERED THE KILLING? ...

written by PREM, January 27, 2012 11:55:25

THE QUESTION IN EVERY TAXPAYERS MIND WAS ' ARE OUR MALAYSIAN JUDGES LACKING IN SIMPLE KNOWLEDGE OF THE LAW ' ? ? ? ? EVEN THE UNEDUCATED WOULD POINT OUT THAT THE 'HONOURABLE ' JUDGES HAVE MISSED A VERY SIMPLE Q ' WHO HIRED THE KILLERS ' ? ? ? WASTING OUR TAX MONEY ON THE ' WAYANG KULIT ' ...

written by Big Ass Mama, January 27, 2012 11:51:29

Question is who ordered the killing? ...

written by Dr Gum Singh Walia, January 27, 2012 11:46:33

Ini Dolar Akhbar mana mari. Awak Tanjung Rambutan juga ada lari. Ini Malaysia semua ada. Belakang Taruh punya orang ada. Itu Bom C4 punya orang pun ada. Itu Lembu punya susu duduk punya condo juga ada. Itu Islam punya orang lari bini punya orang pun ada. Itu mayat mati punya orang bawa lari itu kubut mari juga ada. Ini Malaysia semua punya boleh. Semua ada.

Itu Malaysia bikin ekonomi punya baik yang tada. Itu Ah War Gor kah, Ah Jib Gor kah, itu Ah Din kah itu semua tolak masuk sungei buloh banyak bagus. ...

written by malgal, January 27, 2012 11:39:33

the spectre does not want to go away.

what's sleep like with the sword of damocles ever dangling? ..

written by monee, January 27, 2012 10:52:39

Same repeated article'(s) nothing new. What happened to the suppose sensational news from FRENCH COURT ???? Are their mouth now stuff with EUROS !!!! ...

written by Jacque, January 27, 2012 10:39:01

Who hired those two murderers? The real killer(s) is on the loose while the henchmen will be hanged. Any benefit for working as henchmen for those that walk in the corridors of power? ...

written by Jibby the Head, your C4 Friendly $upreme 1AiyahDollar Fuhrer, January 27, 2012 10:28:25

Read lah my Oafs 1My Qur'4n $wearing pink pouting lip$

This kafir, apa nama tu, John Berthelsen, Asia Sentinel is obviously biased in his unfair reporting against me (who is proclaimed the Father of Moderation and Fairness, by none other than a bunch of pork eating kafir Cina Kuis, who, incidentally, are cousins of Mongolians, and who knows these things, but I digressed) and our country's superb legal system (the best that ringgits can buy). Now this kafir reporter tries to insinuate that "the High Court trial, in which everything appeared to have been done ignore the question of who hired the two killers, stands in vivid contrast to the appeal filed by prosecutors on Jan. 19 in the case of Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim" that somehow our Courts, the best that money can buy, is somehow unfair. As this infidel biased reporter rightly noted that "Judge Mohd Zabidin Mohd Diah pointed out in his not-guilty verdict, “the court cannot be 100 percent certain that the DNA evidence against Anwar was not contaminated.” He, tha kafir reporter, conveniently ignored the fact that the Judge Mohd Zabidin Mohd Diah did not in fact point out anything in the Razak Baginda's trial nor did Judge Mohd Zabidin Mohd Diah point out anything in the trial of the two elite scape goat police body guard who were sentenced to death. Doesn't this biased kafir reporter know that it is improper for anyone to interfere until Judge Mohd Zabidin Mohd Diah point out something? Until I hear from the learned judge pointing out something, these two who were fairly found guilty, will bravely die for me and country, if necessary. So what's so wrong about this system? Semua-nya OK!

You should not believe anyone with a cheap name like "Berthelsen". Why believe in "sen" when you have "ringits"? Dollar akbar! ...

written by Jibby the Head, your C4 Friendly $upreme 1AiyahDollar Fuhrer, January 27, 2012 10:18:14

Read lah my Oafs 1My Qur'4n $wearing pink pouting lip$

This kafir, apa nama tu, John Berthelsen, Asia Sentinel is obviously biased in his unfair reporting against me (who is proclaimed the Father of Moderation and Fairness, by none other than a bunch of pork eating kafir Cina Kuis, who, incidentally, are cousins of Mongolians, and who knows these things, but I digressed) and our country's superb legal system (the best that ringgits can buy). Now this kafir reporter tries to insinuate that "the High Court trial, in which everything appeared to have been done ignore the question of who hired the two killers, stands in vivid contrast to the appeal filed by prosecutors on Jan. 19 in the case of Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim" that somehow our Courts, the best that money can buy, is somehow unfair. As this infidel biased reporter rightly noted that "Judge Mohd Zabidin Mohd Diah pointed out in his not-guilty verdict, “the court cannot be 100 percent certain that the DNA evidence against Anwar was not contaminated.” He, tha kafir reporter, conveniently ignored the fact that the Judge Mohd Zabidin Mohd Diah did not in fact point out anything in the Razak Baginda's trial nor did Judge Mohd Zabidin Mohd Diah point out anything in the trial of the two elite scape goat police body guard who were sentenced to death. Doesn't this biased kafir reporter know that it is improper for anyone to interfere until Judge Mohd Zabidin Mohd Diah point out something? Until I hear from the learned judge pointing out something, these two who were fairly found guilty, will bravely die for me and country, if necessary. So what's so wrong about this system? Semua-nya OK!