SINISTER HANDS MAKING USE OF ALTANTUYA AGAIN? MYSTERY OVER ‘WHO’ WENT BEHIND MAHATHIR’S BACK TO HOLD ‘DISCUSSIONS’ WITH AUSTRALIA – IF SIRUL CAME HOME NOW, NAJIB & ROSMAH MAY FRY FASTER BUT ATTENTION MAY ALSO SWIVEL FROM 1MDB TRIAL – AND MALAYSIA NEEDS TO FOCUS ON CLAWING BACK ITS ‘STOLEN BILLIONS’

Australia is one of foreign countries which never thought the scandal-plagued Najib regime could be toppled by a 93-year-old former premier Mahathir. And Australia has its fair share in the 1MDB scandal. After all, it was Alex Turnbull, the son of Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull who claimed that he exposed the misconduct by Goldman Sachs in its dealings with 1MDB.

Mr. Alex, who was based in Singapore and manages a hedge fund, claimed that he was sidelined and then resigned while working for the global investment bank Goldman Sachs in Singapore, after raising concerns about a deal that raised around US$6 billion in loans for 1MDB (1Malaysia Development Berhad), a brainchild of the despicable ex-PM Najib Razak.

But Alex’s father had refused to discuss his son’s remarks as the disgraced Australian prime minister had chosen to sweep the matter under the carpet instead, at least temporarily, as he was due to meet with Mr. Najib at a special summit between Australia and leaders from the Association of South-east Asian Nations (ASEAN).

RELATED STORY: No request to extradite Sirul, says Australia  (“No, we have not made any discussions yet with the Australian government. I am getting this from you (reporters) for the first time,” said Dr M)

Then opposition leader Mahathir Mohamad, now the Prime Minister of Malaysia, urged Mr. Turnbull to raise the 1MDB scandal with Mr. Najib at their meeting. Of course, the Australian prime minister refused to do the right thing. He didn’t want to damage his close relationship with Mr. Najib. Besides, there was no way the son of Razak could lose the 14th general election.

The shocking defeat of Najib Razak practically changes political landscape in the region. Not only Malcolm Turnbull was forced to congratulate Mahathir after he was sworn in as Malaysia’s 7th Prime Minister, the 1MDB scandal is being given a new lease of life, which could drag the Australian Prime Minister’s son back to limelight. But 1MDB is just one of many issues Australia is entangled with.

Another scandal which was linked to Najib Razak, and somehow involved Australia, was the gruesome murder of Mongolian beauty Altantuya. Former Malaysian police commando Sirul Azhar Umar is currently being held in the Villawood detention centre in Sydney ever since the killer was arrested in Queensland for overstaying his tourist visa.

Australia had refused to send Sirul back to Malaysia because the country’s extradition legislation does not allow a person to be surrendered to another country for an offence punishable by death, unless the country has given Australia an undertaking that the death penalty will not be carried out. The incredible victory of the Pakatan Harapan coalition changes everything.

Now, the Australian authorities have suddenly approved a request from the new government of Malaysia to extradite Sirul Azhar Umar, a bodyguard of former PM Najib Razak. According to Guardian, Mahathir administration had recently approached Australia to request that Mr. Sirul be brought back to Malaysia. It was given the green light after Malaysia agreed to cover the costs.

But why did Australia agree to surrender Sirul without a pledge from Malaysia that the death penalty will not be carried out. Earlier, during an interview with the Guardian, the “hitman” said he was unwilling to come back to Malaysia even if his death sentence is commuted to life in prison. Sirul had expressed his fear of being killed in prison if he returns, and wanted a full immunity.

Apparently, PM-in-waiting Anwar Ibrahim has recently condemned Australia for ignoring Malaysia’s attempts to deport the convicted murderer Sirul Azhar Umar back to Malaysia. He bashed a tainted Australian foreign policies which protecting corruption and criminals. As expected, with the collapse of Najib regime, Australia couldn’t find any reason to continue harbouring the killer.

Sirul is expected to leave Australian within a month, and that will certainly send shivers down Najib Razak and his wife Rosmah Mansor’s spine. While the world knows about their corruption, money laundering and lavish lifestyle in relation to 1MDB scandal, the public is still in the dark over the roles played by the couples in the murder of Mongolian Altantuya.

The decision to return Sirul to Malaysia means that the new government of Mahathir could be considering re-opening the case of Altantuya Shaariibuu’s death. Back in 2015, when Al-Jazeera unleashed a damning documentary – “Murder in Malaysia” – the journalist, Mary Ann Jolley, was deported by 5 Malaysian immigration officers and a man in military outfit.

The Australian-based journalist revealed in the Al-Jazeera weekly that besides two convicted killers from the elite protection squad, namely Chief Inspector Azilah Hadri and Corporal Sirul Azhar Umar, there was a third person at the murder scene. That man was none other than Altantuya’s ex-lover Razak Baginda, a close aid or rather a proxy of ex-PM Najib Razak.

According to court testimony, Ms. Shaariibuu begged for her life and that of her unborn child before she was shot twice in the head, wrapped in C4 military-grade plastic explosives and blown up in Kuala Lumpur’s suburbs on October 19, 2006. And according to Sirul, it was the scumbag Razak Baginda who pulled the trigger and shot the Mongolian.

But how credible was Al-Jazeera’s allegations? Sirul was shown to have confided to his distant Australian relative, who did not want to be identified, that the person who had shot Altantuya was Baginda, whom she had been trying to blackmail to the tune of US$500,000 being the commission for the Scorpene Submarine deal with France.

The question is – why would Azilah Hadri and Sirul Azhar Umar Azilah Hadri (both formerly with the police’s Special Action Unit, UTK) abducted the pregnant Altantuya in front of Baginda’s Kuala Lumpur home and taken to a forest in Subang where she was shot twice and her body was blown up, despite the fact that both commandos never knew the Mongolian woman?

Al-Jazeera also revealed how ex-PM Najib informed buddy Baginda that he had sexual relationship with Altantuya (Aminah). And it was Najib who had introduced Altantuya to Razak Baginda at a diamond exhibition in Singapore. Thus, it is fair to assume that after Najib got tired of Altantuya, he passed her to Baginda like a sex toy, after which both became lovers.

In fact, private investigator and witness Balasubramaniam’s Statutory Declaration did mention about Najib informing Baginda that Altantuya was susceptible to anal intercourse, suggesting that the prime minister had lied when he said he didn’t know her. And how did Najib know about the anal sex thingy, unless he had experienced it with Altantuya, right?

Sirul and a fellow bodyguard, Azilah Hadri, were charged with the murder and sentenced to death in 2009 but Sirul has denied carrying out the killing, saying that he was acting on orders from his superiors and was only involved in driving Altantuya to the scene. No motive for the killing was ever established and key witnesses were never called in the trial.

Under Najib regime, a (deliberate) failure on part of the prosecution to call a material witness – DSP Musa Safri – a former aide de camp of the Prime Minister, has raised eyebrows and suspicious. It was a total cover-up from the Prime Minister Office of Najib Razak to Royal Malaysia Police to Judiciary to immigration. But Mahathir government is about to let the cat out of the bag.

Musa Safri, a military officer acting as a confidential assistant to then Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak, would only carry instruction on behalf of his boss. Not even Razak Baginda could instruct Mr. Musa to do a task. That explains why he was never called in the trial as a material witness simply because to do so would mean Musa would reveal that the instruction came from Najib himself.

Yes, Najib is in deep shit now because if Musa Safri is finally forced to testify, he will reveal who had given him instruction to order the two police commandos to scoop Altantuya. But wait a minute, can that instruction not also came from Rosmah Mansor? After all, Najib’s wife should know about the kickbacks from the purchase of the submarines and probably wanted to cover it up.

The people might get sick and tired of 1MDB scandal. But with a re-trial of the murder of Mongolian Altantuya which may see the “hidden hands” of Najib, the drama would be a totally different ballgame. The history books will have trouble telling students how the son of Razak became the world’s biggest crook as well as his involvement in the murder of a pregnant woman, not to mention the anal sex. – Finance Twitter

No request to extradite Sirul, says Australia

PUTRAJAYA: The Australian government has confirmed, today, that discussions have been held with the government to clarify the status of convicted murderer Sirul Azhar Umar.

The statement by the Australian High Commission in Kuala Lumpur also confirmed Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s statement that the government has not lodged an extradition request with Australia for Sirul.

“Australia looks forward to continuing and strengthening our productive and longstanding law enforcement cooperation with the Government of Malaysia.”

Mahathir earlier today refuted claims that the government had requested Sirul’s extradition from its counterparts in Australia.

Mahathir said the possibility of Sirul returning to the country is unlikely, unless the latter’s death sentence for murdering Mongolian model Altantuya Sharibuu is commuted to life imprisonment instead.

“No, we have not made any discussions yet with the Australian government.

“I am getting this from you (reporters) for the first time,” he said after chairing the cabinet committee on the integrity of government management (JKKMKPK) meeting at Putra Perdana, here today.

He was responding to an earlier news report by UK daily The Guardian that Malaysia was negotiating with Australia to extradite Sirul.

However, Mahathir said in an effort to return him back to the country, the government will be seeking to reducing Sirul’s sentence from death sentence to life in jail.

“If he fears that other people might kill him, he has a choice of not coming back,” he said in response to Sirul’s assertions that his life might be in danger should he return to the country.

Mahathir also said that the government is open to reopening the 2006 murder case of Shaariibuu, whose body was destroyed with C4 explosives by Sirul and another former police officer, Azilah Hadri.

“We have been asked to look into it and we are looking into it,” he added. – THE SUN DAILY

FINANCE TWITTER / THE SUN DAILY