KUALA LUMPUR – An opposition lawmaker has demanded an update from the government on the status of investigation into claims that Datuk Seri Najib Razak had been directly involved in the shocking murder of Mongolian model Altantuya Shaariibuu in 2006.
Sivarasa Rasiah (Sg Buloh-PH) said this information is pertinent, as it involves the country’s administrative system, with Najib assuming the position of deputy prime minister at the time of the event.
Speaking in Parliament, the PKR lawmaker noted how chief inspector Azilah Hadri, who was convicted over Altantuya’s murder, had filed a statutory declaration in the Federal Court in late 2019 alleging he was acting on Najib’s orders.
Sivarasa pointed out that then Attorney-General Tan Sri Tommy Thomas had written in his recent memoir, Justice in the Wilderness, about ordering a senior deputy public prosecutor to validate Azilah’s claim by interviewing Sirul Azhar, the other police officer convicted for the high-profile murder.
“In his book, Thomas said, ‘Sirul’s versions corroborated Azilah. Their joint version was credible, particularly taking into consideration that they were incarcerated in different detention centres in two countries, with no means of contacting each other’.
“Thomas was satisfied that the two were speaking the truth, and he has then ordered an investigation into the matter to be reopened in late 2019 and early 2020,” Sivarasa said when debating the royal address today.
Sivarasa went on to note that based on Thomas’ book, about 40 witnesses had been identified, and that several of them have been questioned.
Thomas, however, left his post at the end of February 2020, following which there was a change of government.
“I want the government to explain the status of the investigation. This is not just some normal murder case. This involved the country’s then number two.
“I want to know how many more witnesses have been called in for questioning. What is the government’s plan about this case? We can’t just close our eyes and stay quiet, hoping to sweep it under the carpet.”
Altantuya, a Mongolian model, was brutally murdered in 2006 and had her body disintegrated using C4 explosives.
Sirul and Azilah were convicted and sentenced to death in 2009.
The decision was overturned by the Court of Appeal in 2013, before the Federal Court later upheld the death sentence in 2015. – The Vibes, March 3, 2022
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