Will M'sia govt dare to re-open file linking Altantuya murder to PM

Bala, Najib, Baginda and Altantuya

Wong Choon Mei, Malaysia Chronicle

All eyes are on the Malaysian government on whether it will investigate a public confession by an investigator that he had signed a false statutory declaration, but although it may be illegal, chances are high Prime Minister Najib Razak will order a black-out as it involves the Altantuya murder which trails back to him and his wife Rosmah Mansor despite their repeated denials.

“The Malaysian government is obliged to take action. In fact, they should investigate both the statutory declarations Bala signed – the truthful one and the false one. And because no lesser than our prime minister is involved, the probe must be conducted at arms-length and all the details should be made public,” prominent lawyer and PKR information chief Latheefa Koya told Malaysia Chronicle.

Not only wife, but Najib's brother Nazim also implicated

In a bid to prevent the Malaysian authorities from closing the file on two SDs he signed in 2008, P Balasubramaniam had on Saturday issued an open letter to the Attorney General. Two years ago, he had blown the whistle on the Altantuya case detailing all the information he had in his hand in an SD. In less than 24 hours, Bala signed a second SD, retracting and refuting everything he had said in the first.

Nazim, wife - allegedly met Bala at a car showroom

“May I suggest that you re-open this file immediately. I will make it easy for you. Let me admit to you that I did sign a false statutory declaration. Yes. I did. I signed a false statutory declaration. It was the second one, not the first one," Bala said in his letter (Click here for the full letter Bala ups the ante, demands gov't probe)

"The first one was entirely truthful. The second one was a complete pack of lies. I admit this. This statutory declaration was prepared by some unknown person(s) and I was forced by very thinly veiled threats and intimidation to sign it."

Immediately after signing the second SD, Bala had fled Malaysia with his family only to resurface in late 2009. He then revealed he was offered RM5 million to sign the second SD and also threatened with harm if he refused. In a video recording, Bala also said that the group of people involved in the second SD included Najib's brother Nazim, Rosmah’s business associates Deepak and Dinesh Jaikishan and a police officer by the name of Inspector Suresh.

As a result of his revelations, the Malaysian authorities were forced t begin an investigation but it was clear they had little intention to uncover the truth. Earlier this year, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission cancelled an interview with Bala in London at the 11th hour, prompting talk that it was afraid that Bala would expose more damning and lurid details especially of Najib's relationship with Altantuya.

Sex, murder, corruption and self-imposed laws

On Wednesday, a day before the hectic by-elections in Galas and Batu Sapi, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Nazri Aziz told Parliament that the Attorney General had closed the file on the two conflicting SDs. Opposition politicians have accused Nazri of trying to slip in the information quietly and in the hope that the huge media focus on the twin by-elections would bury the Bala news.

Rosmah - upset by the Altantuya saga

This led to protests but given the Malaysian government’s track record of steamrolling over issues unfavorable to the ruling elite, few had confidence that a proper investigation would be conducted and the perpetrators of the Altantuya murder would ever be fully brought to justice.

So far, two of Najib’s former bodyguards have been sentenced to be hanged but there is widespread dissatisfaction because it was obvious they were mere order-takers and the real masterminds still at large.

“Our government can do what it likes because it is accountable to no one other than itself and there is no such thing as the rule of law in this country anymore. This country is run by self imposed laws of those who walk the corridors of power,” Bala’s lawyer Americk Sidhu told Malaysia Chronicle.

Altantuya Shaariibuu was a 28-year old Mongolian translator, who allegedly was Najib’s mistress before he introduced her to his associate Razak Baginda. In his first SD, Bala had said Altantuya told him she came to Malaysia to collect her US$500,000 share of the commission that French naval giant DCNS allegedly paid to Baginda for Malaysia’s purchase of two submarines worth some RM6.7 billion ringgit.

Najib was then defense minister in charge of the acquisition and has been accused of corruptly abusing his power by benefitting Baginda’s firm with a 214 million euros side deal. It is believed that Altantuya who speaks four languages including Russian and French acted as a go-between for Baginda and DCNS.

French newspaper La Liberation has reported that a jealous Rosmah had put her foot down and refused to allow Altantuya to be paid a single cent. This eventually led to Baginda hiring Bala to keep Altantuya from harassing him for her share of the pie. It was in the course of this work that Bala obtained the information he unveiled in the first SD. (Click here to read the 1st SD and his interview in 2009 Altantuya-Scorpenes: Trails that lead to Najib continue to puzzle...)