The Shah Alam High Court has ordered the Malaysian government and three other parties to pay damages amounting to RM5 million to the family of deceased Mongolian model Altantuya Shaariibuu, who was murdered in 2006.
According to Bernama, Judge Vazeer Alam Mydin Meera ruled that the victim’s family had successfully proved their claim against the government, political analyst Abdul Razak Baginda, and former policemen Sirul Azhar Umar and Azilah Hadri.
The verdict was in favour of the family during an online proceeding comes 15 years after the civil action was filed in 2007.
On 4 June 2007, Altantuya’s parents, Dr Shaariibuu Setev and Altantsetseg Sanjaa, and their grandson Mungunshagai Bayarjargal, filed the suit against Azilah and Sirul Azhar, as well as Abdul Razak and the government, alleging a conspiracy in her murder.
Altantuya was murdered in 2006 in a forest in Puncak Alam, with a single shot to the head before her body was blown up using explosives.
Azilah and Sirul were also found guilty and were sentenced to death for the murder.
Judge Vazeer also ordered the four defendants to pay the family RM25,000 in expenses as well as 5% yearly interest on the RM5 million settlement during today’s hearings.
He said that the two for former police officers were found to have ‘brutally murdered’ the deceased in an unlawful act of murder, based on the testimony of multiple witnesses for the family.
Razak did not report to the police although advised to do so
Meanwhile, Razak, who was the then deputy Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s aide, is responsible for the crime as he was connected to Azilah and Sirul’s involvement in it in late October 2006.
Judge Vazeer said that if Razak had not reached out to Azilah for help in handling the problem of Altantuya coming to see Razak at his house, the two former police officers would not have been familiar with the victim.
“The link between them and the deceased was through Abdul Razak. It was Abdul Razak who enlisted the assistance of the first defendant. The first defendant (Azilah) had told the third defendant (Abdul Razak) that he could ‘habiskan perempuan itu dan beliau pernah buat sedemikian beberapa kali’.”
“Abdul Razak has been advised to file a police report and deport the deceased. He did not take that action, but instead sought help from a self-professed killer to deal with the deceased.”
“There is no reasonable motive for the first and second defendants to kill the deceased and blow her body into pieces. The only link between them was the third defendant, who wanted the harassment by the deceased to stop,” the judge said.
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