THE apex court has fixed 15 July to hear an application by the family of murdered Mongolian national Altantuya Shaaribuu seeking leave to appeal a Court of Appeal decision that reduced damages and absolved the government of liability in a long-running civil case.
The hearing date was set following case management before Deputy Registrar Wan Norazimin Kassim at the Federal Court of Malaysia.
Lawyer Abraham Au, representing political analyst Abdul Razak Baginda, confirmed the matter when contacted.
The application, filed on 19 February, seeks permission to challenge the appellate court’s ruling which reduced the compensation awarded to Altantuya’s family from RM5 million to RM1.4 million in their civil suit against Abdul Razak, two former police officers and the Malaysian government.
In its January decision, the Court of Appeal allowed the government’s appeal and held that it was not vicariously liable for the actions of former police personnel Sirul Azhar Umar and Azilah Hadri.
Altantuya’s family had originally filed a RM100 million lawsuit in 2007, claiming severe mental and psychological trauma arising from her death.
In 2022, the Shah Alam High Court ruled in favour of the family, ordering Azilah, Sirul Azhar, Abdul Razak and the government to jointly pay RM5 million in damages.
Both Azilah and Sirul Azhar were convicted in 2009 of murdering Altantuya in Shah Alam between 19 and 20 October 2006.
The Federal Court of Malaysia upheld their convictions and death sentences in 2015 after overturning an earlier acquittal by the Court of Appeal.
In October 2023, the Federal Court allowed a review application by Azilah, commuting his death sentence to 40 years’ imprisonment.
In a statement issued on 24 February, the family’s lawyer Sangeet Kaur Deo said the application raises key legal questions, including the scope of the government’s vicarious liability in the civil proceedings.
The upcoming hearing is expected to determine whether the case will proceed to a full appeal, potentially revisiting critical legal and accountability issues in one of Malaysia’s most high-profile cases. - March 19, 2026
