Not enough evidence to file appeal in Altantuya murder, says Putrajaya

Putrajaya did not file an appeal against Abdul Razak Baginda for abetting the 2006 murder of Mongolian translator Altantuya Sharibuu as there was no strong evidence against him. – FB pic, March 30, 2015.Putrajaya decided not to file an appeal against Abdul Razak Baginda for abetting the 2006 murder of Mongolian translator Altantuya Sharibuu as there was no strong evidence against him.

"After looking into the case thoroughly, the Attorney-General's Chambers decided that there was not enough of a strong statement to prove Abdul Razak's involvement in Altantuya's murder," said de facto law minister Nancy Shukri in a written reply to DAP's Nga Kor Ming (Taiping MP).

"As such, a decision was made not to file an appeal."

Razak was acquitted by the High Court on October 31, 2008, after it held that the prosecution failed to establish a prima facie case against the political analyst, who was a confidante of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

Evidence in court revealed that Altantuya 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 the capital city Kuala Lumpur.

It emerged during the trial that 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.

In an exclusive interview with The Malaysian Insider earlier this year, Razak said that the murder of the Mongolian woman was just a "straightforward case," adding that he was still in the dark about the motive of her killing.

"Only the two policemen know. Rogue police do kill people, like in so many remand cases," he had said.

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

He was referring to the two police commandos who were found guilty for Altantuya's murder by the Federal Court in January after a final round of appeal.

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 dow, while Sirul has fled to Australia. Malaysian authorities have applied to have him extradited.

Sirul had reportedly claimed that he was acting under orders to kill Altantuya and said that the "real" murderers were still free.

However, Najib rubbished claims by the former police commando that he was ordered by "important people" to kill Altantuya, saying, "It's total rubbish, total rubbish," at a Chinese New Year open house in February.

- TMI