Now that the written judgment on the sensational Altantuya Shaariibuu murder is out, Malaysians and non-Malaysians alike from all walks of life are not surprisingly venting their fury in cyberspace, the teh tarik mamakstalls and the warongs, among other places.
They want answers to several searching questions in the public mind: who gave the orders or directives if at all to the two co-accused, now found "guilty", to blow up Altantuya with C4 charges in the middle of a jungle in Selangor?
One theory is that the duo may not have even been responsible for the killing, as charged, but scapegoats to avoid risking the real culprit or culprits inadvertently spilling the beans. Someone or some group may have decided that the duo was guilty anyway, for other similar killings which they had apparently bragged about, and it was time to erase orterminate them. Or, it could be that it would be very much easier for the duo to escape the gallows on appeal.
Both have no alibi and their testimonies merely contradicted each other. Their defense was an outright denial and there was no motive. So, they have been found guilty merely on circumstantial evidence, whether substantial or otherwise remain debatable, and the Judge curiously held that motive was not important.
Politics or the law at work?
There's even a theory going around that the duo will never be hanged anyway, if it comes to that, but will walk away into the sunset with new identities. If they hang someone, the theory goes; it will be others who had the misfortune to be around and conveniently available. No one can as yet hazard a guess who these unfortunate "Replacement Killers" will be.
Why isn't the noose around the neck of Razak Baginda as well, the public wants to know, and instead this once co-accused was freed without his defence being called? Razak’s affidavit for bail was accepted by the Judge as his defence, almost as a sort of statement from the dock, although rejected earlier for bail purposes.
Why isn't Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, Razak Baginda's "boss", not behind bars as well for what's publicly perceived as "his role in the ghastly affair". Anyway, the public believes that he's guilty as hell, which is most unfortunate, and for this he may yet pay a heavy political price. That would translate into either cold storage or an indefinite spell in the political wilderness.
Najib still reeks of Altantuya
Najib, it cannot be denied, is solely responsible for creating the Altantuya mess, whether directly or indirectly. It was not sheer coincidence that he was Defence Minister. Does it all really matter?
What matters is that it will only be a matter of time, sooner rather than later, before he's held solely and fully accountable, if not for nothing else, but for extreme political stupidity.
Situation that got out of control
The fact that this erasure of Immigration records could happen so easily tells us that 'invisible hands' at the highest levels exist in Malaysia. The same kind of invisible hands may be behind padding the electoral rolls in Sabah with illegal immigrants or did away with the Australian insurance investigator who completed the report on the air crash which killed Donald Mohd Fuad Stephens.
This is the kind of set-up which may prevent the ouster of Umno from the government and the opposition alliance, Pakatan Rakyat, from seizing the reins of power in Putrajaya. It may even order street riots to be provoked and emergency law to be declared to help Umno cling to power. Forthunately, for the Pakatan Rakyat and Opposition Leader, these sort of methods don't work. Even despots as powerful as Egypt's Mubarak and Libya's Gaddafi learned this the hard way. Might is no longer right in today's world. All that violence does is to give the Pakatan more reason to hunt down and jail the culprits to the maximum when the coup is inevitably overthrown.
Baginda - collateral damage?
They say that Altantuya came to collect a RM5 million commission -- other estimates range as high as RM 45 million -- on a multibillion ringgit submarine deal but ended up dead. The lower figure is no reason to murder her, the higher figure perhaps provides a pretext when there's a falling out among thieves. In the end, it could have been that events spun way out of control of both Baginda and Najib.
The 'invisible hands' may have taken charge of the mission to terminate Altantuya. The woman was getting noisy for some reason, getting noisier by the day and on the verge of drawing unwelcome public and media attention. This won't do since Najib, by that time, was on the threshold of the premiership.
Who are the 'invisible hands'
So who are these 'invisible hands' directing the Altantuya murder from behind? The Special Branch? Who in the special Branch could authorize such a thing and even so, this person would have to report to someone. Who is this someone? As for Umno, which supreme council member would care if Najib had pie splashed on his face and who could be higher than the president of the party?
Hopefully when the Pakatan Rakyat comes to federal power, it can set up a functional Royal Commission of Inquiry to dig into the truth. The murder of the Mongolian mistress is hot stuff and imagine the smear to the country if Hollywood decides to make a movie on it. The damage is done, but at the very least, Malaysia should show that it has tried its best to atone for the crime and is not shielding any political bigwig for it.
Malaysia Chronicle
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