AS MONGOLIA’S PRESIDENT CONVEYS THANKS TO MAHATHIR FOR RE-OPENING ALTANTUYA MURDER PROBE, NAJIB PLAYS FOR SYMPATHY FROM MALAYS – ‘I HAVE ALREADY SWORN IN A MOSQUE IN THE NAME OF ALLAH I HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH THIS CASE’

Former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak has reiterated that he did not know Altantuya Shaariibuu, the Mongolian national who was murdered by two members of the police Special Action Unit 12 years ago.

This comes amid an attempt to have the case reopened by Altantuya’s father Setev, who earlier today met with Dr Mahathir Mohamad to ask for the prime minister’s approval. Mahathir agreed.

Najib said, however, that the case has already been “dealt with.”

“There is no evidence whatsoever that I ever met her, there are no records, no pictures or witness to say that I even knew her.

“It was subject to a proper trial, and my name didn’t come up during the trial whatsoever.

“I’m on record to have sworn in a mosque in the name of Allah that I had nothing to do with the case,” he said in an interview with Reuters.

Altantuya was shot to death in 2006 and her remains were blown up with military grade explosives.

The two police commandos responsible for carrying out the killing are Azilah Hadri and Sirul Azhar Umar, who acted as bodyguards to then-deputy prime minister Najib.

Both were sentenced to death, but Sirul fled to Australia. Azilah remains on death row.

Earlier today, Setev also lodged a police report urging that the case be reopened, and named Najib’s former aide-de-camp Musa Safri.

Musa’s name cropped up during the investigation into Altantuya’s murder, but the prosecution at the time refused to call him up to testify. – M’kini

After meeting her father, Dr M agrees that Altantuya case should be re-opened

PUTRAJAYA: The Altantuya Shaariibuu murder case should be reopened, says Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

In a meeting with the victim’s father Dr Shaariibuu Setev and family lawyer Ramkarpal Singh on Wednesday (June 20), Dr Mahathir agreed that the 12-year-old case should be looked into again.

“He (Dr Mahathir) agreed that it is a case that warrants further investigation,” said Ramkarpal.

“The prime minister however is also adamant that the process must follow the rule of law.

“We also agree with him and have started the due process, which began with meeting the Attorney-General yesterday (June 19). We are confident that the rule of law will take its course.

“It was a very satisfactory meeting. The Prime Minister also spoke in detail with Dr Shaariibuu,” Ramkarpal told reporters outside the Prime Minister’s office here after the 30-minute meeting.

Also present were a Mongolian translator and a representative from the Mongolian consulate.

Dr Shaariibuu had lodged a report earlier on Wednesday (June 20) at the Dang Wangi police headquarters in Kuala Lumpur seeking a fresh investigation.

He also said Mongolian President Khaltmaagiin Battulga had spoken to him over the phone to thank Dr Mahathir.

After Pakatan Harapan won its historic victory in GE14 and took over Putrajaya, Khaltmaagiin had also written to Dr Mahathir.

“As the President of Mongolia, I pay special attention to the grave crime committed in Malaysia on Oct 18, 2006 – the murder of Ms Shariibuu Altantuya, a Mongolian national and a mother of two children,” Khaltmaagiin said in his letter.

He urged the then newly sworn-in premier to help bring justice to Altantuya’s family “to invigorate the atmosphere in the bilateral relations between our two countries”.

Two former policemen, Sirul Azhar Umar and accomplice Azilah Hadri, were convicted of murdering Altantuya in 2009 and sentenced to death by the High Court, although the Court of Appeal overturned this in 2013.

On the prosecution’s appeal, the Federal Court upheld their death sentences, but Sirul had fled to Australia by then.

Former political analyst Abdul Razak Baginda, who was charged together with them, was freed on Oct 31, 2008, after the court found no concrete evidence against him.

Meanwhile, Ramkarpal said the identity of the individual who ordered the murder of Altantuya could already be determined from the previous police investigation.

“I believe the previous investigation has already identified the person, or if there is more than one, who ordered the murder.

“Whoever ordered this should be brought to face justice. The crime is heavier than the one committed by those who followed orders and did the killing,” he declared.

– ANN