Lawyers: AG should inform public final outcome of Altantuya probe
Counsel N Sivananthan says AG Tommy Thomas should advise the government to set up a Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) should he decide that no one else is to be prosecuted.
Two policemen have been convicted of killing Mongolian interpreter Altantuya Shaariibuu but the motive was never established.
PETALING JAYA: Attorney-General (AG) Tommy Thomas must make a public announcement in the event the prosecution decides to charge anyone or otherwise in connection with the murder of Mongolian model and translator Altantuya Shaariibuu, lawyers have suggested.
They said this was a public interest case that had hogged the limelight since 2006 and regained prominence after the recent general election.
Lawyer SN Nair said police and the Attorney-General Chambers (AGC) need not update the public on police investigations as it may hamper their work.
“The police nor the AGC need not keep the public updated on their work, even if the investigators are directed to collect more evidence,” he told FMT
Nair said this in response to Inspector-General of Police Mohamad Fuzi Harun’s statement yesterday that police had submitted a fresh investigation into the murder of Altantuya to the AGC.
Nair said Thomas need only inform the public if someone new is charged and let the public follow the court proceedings.
“If he is not going to court, the AG must give his reason as to why there is no more prosecution,” he said, adding that it was incumbent on Thomas to explain as the Altantuya murder case was a matter of public importance.
Lawyer N Sivananthan said that Thomas should advise the government to set up a Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) if there was to be no fresh prosecution.
“The RCI is a better option as the public wants to know the motive for the murder and who else was responsible, besides the two policemen who have already been convicted.”
He said former prime minister Najib Razak, who has been implicated, could appear before the RCI.
Sivananthan said even ex-cops Azilah Hadri and Sirul Azhar Umar, who have been convicted in Altantuya’s murder, could testify and tell the RCI what really transpired.
“The RCI can make recommendations, and it will be up to the attorney-general to direct police to further investigate and frame charges if there is sufficient evidence.”
Last month, Altantuya’s father, Setev Shaariibuu, lodged a police report seeking to accelerate the reopening of investigations into his daughter’s murder.
Setev’s lawyer, Ramkarpal Singh, said the case needed to be reopened as several witnesses had not been called in to give evidence.
In particular, he named Musa Safri, the former aide-de-camp to then-deputy prime minister Najib.
Musa was not called to testify at the trial of Azilah and Sirul, who were convicted and sentenced to death in 2015 by the Federal Court.
Azilah is currently on death row in Kajang prison. He submitted an application for a pardon in 2016.
Sirul, meanwhile, fled Malaysia after his 2013 acquittal by the Court of Appeal and is now in Australian custody.
Altantuya was the lover of Abdul Razak Baginda, a former close associate of Najib. Razak was accused of arranging kickbacks in the purchase of French submarines in 2002.
He was said to have abetted in the crime, but was acquitted without his defence being called. The government did not appeal.
Despite the convictions of Sirul and Azilah, the motive for Altantuya’s murder was never established.