Altantuya’s father drops bid to review Razak’s acquittal

The father of murdered Mongolian model Altantuya Shaariibuu today withdrew his bid to force the Attorney-General to appeal against political analyst Abdul Razak Baginda’s acquittal.

Last year, the High Court here raised many eyebrows when it freed Razak who was charged with being in cahoots with two policemen from the elite special action squad in killing Altantuya, his former mistress.

The two Unit Tindakan Khas (UTK) officers were sentenced to death.

Lawyer for Dr Shaariibuu Setev, Karpal Singh, told reporters here that Altantuya’s father made the decision after he was advised that it would be a long, costly and difficult affair.

Under Section 145 (3) of the Federal Constitution the Attorney General (AG) has absolute discretion in deciding what to do with a case, including whether to prosecute or, in in this case, not to appeal.

“I advised Mr Shaariibuu that the only way is to concede an appeal at the High Court, because it is bound by the Federal Court, and then go straight to the Federal Court to overrule Long bin Samat and Johnson

Tan,” said Karpal, referring to two previous cases in the 1970s which set a precedent in challenging the decision made by the AG.

“This would have involved substantial costs. And I advised him that he should not,” he added.

Karpal, who is also a federal lawmaker, said the Federal Constitution must be changed to limit the powers of the AG “in the event it is exercised unfairly”.

The high-profile case involving Altantuya had come under intense scrutiny as Razak and a police officer, DSP Musa Safri, who are tied to the events leading to Altantuya's gruesome death, are linked to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

Razak was a close associate of Najib, while Musa, who arranged for two policemen from the elite special action squad who were subsequently found guilty of murder to help Razak, was the PM’s aide-de-camp.

Altantuya was blown to bits in a secondary forest near here in 2006.

On Oct 31 last year, the High Court here acquitted and discharged Razak of abetting Chief Inspector Azilah Hadri and Corporal Sirul Azhar Umar in Altantuya’s murder and later sentenced the two policemen to death for the murder which involved explosives in a botched attempt to destroy her body.

Shariibuu has an outstanding civil suit claiming RM100 million in damages against the two policemen, Razak and the government of Malaysia due to be mentioned on Nov 25.

Karpal said the grieving father is not dropping the civil suit.

“Dr Shaariibuu has directed me to go ahead and withdraw from this case but is insisting that I carry on with the civil suit for damages against the three, including the government,” the lawyer said.

“The government is liable, in my view, for the actions of the two officers who have been convicted, and this matter should be settled out of court,” said Karpal.

“In fact, I would appeal to the government to have this matter settled out of court, to pay damages to Dr Shaariibuu for the loss of his daughter, and more particularly, to the two dependents which are her children, one who is mentally-challenged.

“The Altantuya saga must and ought to be brought to a close,” he added.

The MP for Bukit Gelugor said the “Prime Minister himself should have directed the Attorney General to effect a settlement in the best interests of everybody.”

He noted that the civil suit is likely to be postponed until the top court wraps up the two officers' appeal against their death sentence.

“They've appealed to the Court of Appeal and if not successful, they'll appeal to the Federal Court,” he said.

He noted that Shaariibuu's search for justice will be “one long drawn-out process”.

The federal government and Razak have both asked Shariibuu to put up security for the cost of the suit, with the former asking for a RM1 million guarantee.

“Normally, if a foreigner sues in this country, the defendants can ask to pay what would be the costs in the end,” Karpal explained.

“In the event they win, they will take the costs. If lose, the security will be refunded, in this case, to the plaintiff,” he added.


comments


It is clear the A-G deliberately created a lot of difficulties making it too costly for poor Shaaribu to seek the justice so that the spirit of his dead daughter can rest in peace. I hope he will now resort to international pressure to bring all those responsible for his daughters ghastly death. Malaysians sympathise with his anguish at the way the A-G deliberately creates all kinds of obstacles to wear down his patience. All those guilty will eventually be punished by GOD.

to the murderers out there, you may win in the kangaroo court but you will never win in the people's court and the court of god. it is an open secret of who are behind. you can run but you can never hide!

No surprised at all, money taken already, death can never come back to live again, better use these money to open up one biggest university in Mongolia and make himself as chancellor of the university, may be one of these day may invite Razak(PHD) to be a lecturer there also.

Hope God the Almighty does not show mercy to those who are involved and wanting to get away with the murder. May the soul of Altantuya rest in peace.

Money can't buy you love but it can buy just about anything else!

Shame on Malaysia!