Altantuya’s death ‘just a straightforward murder case’, says ex-lover Razak Baginda

Political analyst Abdul Razak Baginda says he was blackmailed by Altantuya Shaariibuu. – Twitter pic, January 29, 2015.Nine years on, political analyst Abdul Razak Baginda still does not know the motive for his lover Altantuya Shaariibuu's murder but noted that many people have inexplicably died in police custody.

Razak was acquitted of abetting in her 2006 murder but‎ two police commandos have been found guilty by the Federal Court after a final round of appeal this month.

"Only the two policemen know. Rogue police do kill people, like in so many remand cases," the political analyst told The Malaysian Insider when asked what, in his opinion, was the motive for the murder.

The two are former special action unit (UTK) personnel Chief Inspector Azilah Hadri and Corporal Sirul Azhar Umar but the‎ motive for the murder was never established. The Federal Court, however, ruled that circumstantial evidence sufficed for it to send the two to the gallows.

Azilah is on Death Row while Sirul has fled to Australia. Malaysian authorities have applied to have him extradited.

Speaking to The Malaysian Insider recently, Razak said speculation on the case had gone to the point of being extremely ridiculous.

"The situation has become quite ridiculous in terms of the speculations. It is much of the same speculation but now, more twisted because we have reached the end of a long legal process.

"There is a twist to all this because Sirul escaped and went to Australia," said Razak, adding that he is willing to speak now as from a legal point, the criminal case is now over.

He also commented on reports of Sirul's mother lamenting that her son had been framed.

"What do you expect the mother to say," he said.

He also referred to reports of Sirul's son, appearing out of nowhere on a Facebook page, saying he is in Australia with his dad.

The user, who called himself Shuk Sz, claimed to be Sirul’s 19-year-old son.

In one of his postings, Shuk Sz said Sirul was called to record a statement but does not say which authority had summoned him. He said if the statement is publicised, Malaysia’s reputation would suffer.

"We don't even know the authenticity of the Facebook (posting), and yet it got reported. Nobody bothers to check?

"If you just treat this as a murder and do not politicise it, then it is just a straightforward murder case," he said.

Razak insisted that the two policemen had acted on their own accord when committing the murder, adding that, "this was determined by the court".

"At the end of the day, the court proceedings were so transparent, some of the best defence lawyers were there, including the late Karpal Singh. The judge was so liberal, giving opportunities for everyone to ask questions."

He questioned why there was an allegation of conspiracy hanging over the case when there was no evidence to prove it.

"There are still people out there who are convinced that police cannot do this without instructions.

"How many people die in remand? The last count was 156 from 2008 and the figure is going up. So who instructed this?‎"

Mongolian Altantuya Shaariibuu was murdered in 2006. – The Malaysian Insider file pic, January 29, 2015.Evidence in court revealed that the Mongolian woman was either murdered by C4 explosives or was killed first and her remains destroyed on October 18, 2006, in the outskirts of Shah Alam, near capital city Kuala Lumpur.

It emerged during the trial that Razak, a confidante of Datuk Seri Najib Razak, had enlisted Deputy Superintendent Musa Safri's help as he could not tolerate the harassment from Altantuya.

Musa was at the time the aide-de-camp for Najib, who was then the deputy prime minister.

On April 9, 2009, the High Court meted out the death sentence on Azilah and Sirul Azhar after a marathon 159-day trial.

On August 23, 2013, a three-man Court of Appeal bench acquitted the two policemen due to lack of evidence. In fact, judge Tengku Maimun Tengku Mat, who delivered the written grounds, said the two should have been freed without their defence called.

The bench ruled that the failure to call Musa proved fatal to the prosecution's case.

Tengku Maimun said it should not be overlooked that the ugly and horrendous episode had started with the request by Razak to Musa before Azilah and Sirul came into the picture.

The prosecution said there was no need to put Musa on the stand as he was only a peripheral figure in the case and that an affidavit by Razak in support of his bail application had revealed that the senior police officer's role was limited to introducing him (Razak) to the Brickfields police chief.

Even Sirul, who gave an unsworn statement from the dock, had said that Musa was not involved and neither did he (Musa) give any directive.

Sirul had also pleaded with the judge not to impose the death sentence on him, saying: "I am the black sheep who has to be sacrificed to protect unnamed people."

Azilah had given a notice of alibi to the prosecution that he was not at the crime scene. He tendered a copy of the station diary that indicated he was at the Federal police headquarters in Bukit Aman at the time of the murder.

The judgment pointed out that Azilah and  Sirul were spotted at the hotel where Altantuya stayed and both were outside Razak's house the night she went missing.

The court also accepted the evidence of information leading to discovery as they voluntarily led police to the isolated crime scene.

Further Sirul was unable to provide an explanation on a blood-stained slipper found in his car and the discovery of jewellery in his house.

Below are excerpts of Razak's interview with TMI:

Q: Why are you speaking up now?

RB: The problem is, it has gone to the point of being extremely ridiculous. It is down right ridiculous. Good Lord, people have twisted and turned. Now suddenly the son (Sirul's son) comes out and latest I heard, the mother says he was framed. What do you expect the mother to say? I mean, come on. Much the same speculation but now, more twisted because we have reached almost the end. All the speculation that comes out of this obviously makes me more angry. From the legal point, the criminal case is now over and that is why I am speaking now.

Q: Can you share with us your experience in prison?

RB: Nobody wants to go to prison. I hear people saying, "I don't care, I want to go to jail". Don't say it because you've never tried it. There was a lot of frustration on my part because I was innocent. I kept asking what was I doing here. The other frustration was the court case dragged on. I hated public holidays because public holidays meant the case gets adjourned. It is a terrible experience.

Q: When you were there, were Azilah and Sirul in the same prison complex? Did you see them?

RB: Obviously they (prison authorities) separated us. I never saw them. Only saw them when we were in court. In fact, I never met them until three or four months after I was in jail. Only met them on the first day of trial.

Q: This is not just another murder case.

RB: Yes, because there were a lot of twists. If you just treat this as a murder and do not politicise it, it is just a straightforward murder. Because of my closeness with Najib, those who wanted to kill Najib (politically) at that time, saw it as a golden opportunity to use it against him.

Now, if I had no connection with Najib, even though I was a political analyst, this thing would have just died down.

There's a herd mentality among Malaysians. A picture was painted right from the beginning. This is the angle you should be looking at, everybody jumps on the bandwagon. I will challenge you to be a bit more creative and look at the wider picture.

If you talk about police conspiracy, there can be other conspiracies taking place as well. The truth to this murder is simply extremely too boring. It was a straightforward murder, but there are still people convinced that police cannot do this without instructions.

How many people die in remand? The last count was 156 from 2008, the figure is going up. So who instructed this?

Q: So you are saying these two acted on their own accord?

RB: Yes, as determined by the court. Simply because, at the end of the day, the court proceedings were so transparent, some of the best defence lawyers were there, including Karpal Singh.

The judge was so liberal, giving opportunities for everyone to ask questions. Whatever you say about our system, it was so transparent.

I was so frustrated because there were so many postponements to the case. So what's wrong if they (Azilah and Sirul) went on their own? Look at MH370, what, there was a conspiracy? Come up with the evidence. Nobody came up with the evidence. Things just happen. Bermuda Triangle. Certain things are just unexplainable. So why not this? That they just went on their own. Why not?

Why? Because Malaysians have been fed from day one that this is the narrative. This is the narrative we played. Everybody, without thinking just jumped on the bandwagon and they went on with this.

Q: There was one incident where you caused quite a stir in court when you were told something, and your wife also screamed, "Look, he doesn't want to be PM". What was that about?

RB: That was so funny. Honestly. If you have been in prison, and you say, I want to finish this case, and then someone tells you the case has been postponed for the next two weeks. I was just pissed off because I see the whole system as just being dragged.
This trial is the most sensationalised case ever in the history of Malaysia. Even Botak Chin did not get this coverage. I still have in my archive all the newspaper cuttings. It is incredible the type of media coverage I had.

You know what this is... the editors are involved. If I owned a newspaper, I just had to tell them, "Hey, play it down, don't play it up". But someone was putting paraffin into the flame. Of course I was frustrated. I was in jail, for heaven's sake. And everybody was speculating this, speculating that.

Q: And that outburst was just because there was a postponement?

RB: Yes, because if you checked the date, there was a two-week postponement. You know what's it like when it is postponed, you go back into prison, you cannot see your family. My father whispered to me they were going to postpone and I was very angry.

Q: Tell us about your relationship with Bala (private investigator P. Balasubramaniam).

RB: Interesting relationship. I had two different rounds with him. The first time was, when you see... the deceased (Altantuya) came to Malaysia twice. The first time she came, after the blackmail, she wanted to get hold of me. I realised I needed some form of protection. I asked around and somebdoy recommended Bala.

His instructions were very simple – follow me, wait downstairs, if she comes, just let me know. And all I wanted to do was to avoid her. I didn't want to confront her. I know what the issues were, she wanted money from me.

I actually met her once, before I met Bala. What happened was, she came in. I told her do whatever "you wanted to do". Hopefully none of you will ever get blackmailed. If you look at all blackmail cases, once you succumb to a blackmailer, it is difficult. A blackmail will not work once you tell that guy, "You want to blackmail me? I don't care". Then he is finished.

What's he going to do? In my case, I succumbed to it in the early stages and then I said no. That's when she started coming. I said I didn't want to pay anymore. She got very angry.

Q: What was she blackmailing you about?

RB: There was some personal matter, the relationship. This is something very personal.

Q: What about the alleged US$500,000 commission (from the submarine deal)?

RB: Where did that come from? That's the thing. Everybody is lazy now days, journalists, everybody is lazy. They never check the source. Trace where the US$500,000 came from.

Q: It was mentioned in Bala's first statutory declaration.

RB: OK, anybody can say that. Where did that come from? Honestly the US$500,000 was news to me. I didn't know that. She (Altantuya) was blackmailing me for US$5,000, US$8,000. That's why I succumbed to it.

Q: No fee for her services as interpreter?

RB: What interpreter fee? The whole episode of her being an interpreter is a joke. She can't even speak French. We are all victims of a political game. And we all fell right into it. It's a narrative from the beginning – the murder, Najib, Razak and then the submarine deal.

This narrative was fed to the Malaysian public from day one and everyone like a herd of buffaloes, followed.

Trace and see if she can speak a word of French. None of the French guys in the submarine deal met her or knew her. The French were so sophisticated. They all speak perfect English. Nobody questioned. Why would you want a Mongolian French interpreter?
Think about it. If I wanted an interpreter, I would have a French interpreter or a British-French interpreter. Why on earth would I want a Mongolian? Has she ever been to France and stayed and learnt French? And yet everybody believed she was an interpreter of French and she got paid. Nobody questioned that.

Q: In Bala's first SD, there was another allegation that Najib introduced Altantuya to you.

RB: That's part of the narrative. I have said this hundreds of times, I don't even know how to say it anymore. Najib never knew the woman. Najib is innocent. If you all think there is a connection, where is the evidence? Let's not forget that in any situation like this, there are a lot of opportunists out there. We have seen this so many times.

Q: How did you come to know Altantuya?

RB: If I know Najib, it doesn't mean that he knows everything about me. But the assumption is that he knows everything I do. I think that is a wrong assumption. I have already said it in my affidavit and that is the truth. The truth hurt my family and there was a debate among my legal team if I should put it in. I even told how I met her. It's all there (in the affidavit).

Q: So are you rubbishing Bala's first SD?

RB: All utter rubbish. Anal sex as well. All rubbish. Everyone took the SD as the truth. Furthermore, in the SD, Bala says: "someone told me" or "I told him". It's all hearsay.

Q: Who is behind all this (narrative)?

RB: Dracula, vampire, werewolf, you name it... My favourite character has always been Dracula.

Q: The main aim then was to implicate Najib?

RB: Yes, of course.

Q: And you were also the victim?

RB: No, I wouldn't say I was a victim. There was a murder that took place and because I had a connection in the whole thing, and it's just too juicy a story to let go.
There are a lot of opportunists out there. And don't forget, Najib at that point was deputy prime minister, and in this country of ours, the DPM is a heartbeat away from becoming the PM. Everyone knew he had the potential of being the PM.

Q: Are you still close to Najib now?

RB: No. But does it matter? The situation has become so ridiculous, if I have tea here with Najib, everyone will say "Oh my god..." So we have to move on.

Q: Do you think that Malaysians will move on? That the ghost of Altantuya will be laid to rest?

RB: It will not, simply because there are interested parties out there. Because it's a political game. We are all victims of this political game. Do you know how many ghosts are out there? No one gives a damn because they are all apolitical. This one is there, because it is political. Simple as that.

Q: You were acquitted on October 31, 2008. Since then this Altantuya issue has been used against Najib. Why didn't you come out sooner to say something, like okay, enough is enough?

RB: As far as my lawyers are concerned, it was very clear. So long as I am involved in the trial, and if the case is not completed, you don't really want to say anything at this point until the whole process is completed.

Q: But Najib was not on trial. You were acquitted. So what was the problem?

RB: I had a PC (press conference after he was released). Statements were issued. Disappointingly, the press didn't ask all the questions. They asked all the narrative questions. They didn't ask anything else pertinent.

Q: Didn't you feel it was right for you to come out after that and say, look, enough of this?

RB: There was a great debate after I was released, and the conclusion was, let me come out with a statement. And not just a statement, a Q and A session.

But six, seven years later, same things come out. Everytime I speak to my lawyers, they say it is best not to say anything. "You have said what you wanted to say...there's nothing new. Let's hang on until... the whole process ends".

And the reason why I thought I should speak now, now that the case has finally ended.
But I still see a lot of the same shit. So I said to myself, let me try again another time.

They said Najib has never denied (knowing Altantuya). No. He has denied it many times. Even with people like Najib, at some point, he is going to say, "What am I going to do".

Q: Najib is now under attack. And now you are coming out to say that Najib is innocent. He wasn't involved from the start. Why now?

RB: I hope the focus will be on me, rather than Najib. You know, it is my story. Poor guy. To be honest with you, words cannot express my feelings towards how he has become a victim.

Q: But you have not explained how you have become a victim?

RB: To be honest, I'm a private citizen. I have no political ambition. I don't really give a damn.

Q: But you still spent 22 months of your life in prison.

RB: Yeah, but that's the system. What can I do. We tried everything possible to get bail, but we couldn't.

Q: Thinking back now, what would you have done differently?

RB: To be honest with you, I would come up with the best legal mind and sue the shit of anyone who deviates from anything they could not prove. I should have done that, that is my regret.

- TMI