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Friday, August 23, 2013

Political decision to shield Najib,Rosmah? Ex-bodyguards acquitted from Altantuya murder

Political decision to shield Najib,Rosmah? Ex-bodyguards acquitted from Altantuya murder
UPDATE3 KUALA LUMPUR - In a shock decision, the former bodyguards of Prime Minister Najib Razak and his wife Rosmah Mansor were freed from murder charges by the Court of Appeal.
Ex-chief inspector Azilah Hadri and former corporal Sirul Azhar Umar had been sentenced to hang for murdering Altantuya Shaariibuu, the 28-year-old Mongolian national suspected of being a former lover of the Malaysian leader and who had told her father she was coming to Malaysia to him.
On Friday, a 3-member Appeals Court panel led by Md Apandi Ali ruled that there had been serious misdirection in the case, telling the prosecutors they could appeal to the Federal Court if they so wished.
"We acquit and discharge the two appellants," said the Star reported Justice Tengku Maimun as saying. The third member of the panel was Justice Linton Albert.
The family and supporters of the accused were seen sighing in relief, and uttering thanks when they heard the judgement, while the appellants remained calm in the dock.
Shielding the principals?
The ruling has aroused mixed response.
Many believe it was yet another example of the Malaysian judiciary being used by those in power to escape punishment, no matter that it might destroy the reputation of the country's courts.
Some were more focused, pointing the finger directly at Najib and Rosmah, both of whom have been accused of ordering the murder. Critics of the Malayian leader and his wife believe that they are now using the clout won from the recently-concluded general elections to put further distance between themselves and the murder.
"The criminal justice system is now made a joke in the eyes of the world with this decision. It is obvious to all and sundry that Sirul and Azilah are the killers with the principals who ordered the killing yet to be identified," Sivarasa Rasiah, an Opposition MP who is also a prominent criminal lawyer, told Malaysia Chronicle. 
"This verdict as the acquittal of Razak Baginda will be seen as apolitical decision to shield those who ordered the killing."
Why acquittal and not RETRIAL?
While the murder trial has been heavily criticized for being biased, with the trial judge disallowing any questioning that probed into who were those who might have ordered the 2 bodyguards to kill Altantuya, many Malaysians had expected the higher court to order a retrial rather than acquit the duo.
Both Azilah and Sirul had admitted killing Altantuya and in his police statement, Sirul had admitted doing so because he had been paid.
Now it is up to the Attorney-General's chambers whether or not to pursue the conviction further, and while there is little doubt that the Attorney General, Gani Patail, will do so, there will be further delay. Both men were convicted in 2009 and their appeal allowed only this year, after the May 5 general election was held.
Apart from risks that the killers might leave the country, there is the obvious danger that their principals could approach them again with fresh offers to change their testimony.
"The Appeals Court had ample power to order a retrial which should have been done," said Sivarasa.

MORE TO COME
Malaysia Chronicle

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