This article first appeared in The Edge Malaysia Weekly on December 19, 2022 - December 25, 2022

THE family of Mongolian model Altantuya Shaariibuu have won a civil suit initiated in 2007, a year after she was killed by two police officers. Some 16 years after the death of Altantuya, the High Court has found three individuals and the Malaysian government liable for her grisly murder, and awarded the family RM5 million in damages.

Last Friday, the Shah Alam High Court ruled that political analyst Abdul Razak Baginda, chief inspector Azilah Hadri and corporal Sirul Azhar Umar were liable for her death that fateful night in October 2016, and consequently that the government is also vicariously liable, given that both acted “in their capacity as police officers using resources provided by the Royal Malaysian Police”.

Sitting as a High Court judge, Court of Appeal judge Datuk Vazeer Alam Mydin Meera ordered the four defendants to pay damages, but said the amount of RM100 million sought by the family was excessive and could not be justified in principle.

“Hence, the court awards damages to be paid jointly and severally by all four defendants (Azilah, Sirul, Abdul Razak and the government) of RM5 million in general, aggravated and exemplary damages to the deceased’s family,” he ruled.

He ordered that the damages be charged at 5% interest from the date of the filing of the lawsuit until the full settlement of the amount.  All four defendants were also ordered to pay RM25,000 costs each.

The proceedings via Zoom were also monitored by Mongolian embassy officials.

Altantuya’s father Dr Shaariibuu Setev, her mother Altantsetseg Sanjaa, and the deceased’s two sons, Mungunshagai Bayarjargal and Altanshagai Munkhtulga, filed the lawsuit on June 4, 2007, claiming that the model’s death resulted in them suffering mental shock and psychological trauma. They sought compensation as well as exemplary and aggravated damages. Altanshagai’s name was removed from the list of plaintiffs after he died in 2017.

Defendants named in the lawsuit were two former members of the Special Actions Unit attached to the Royal Malaysian Police, namely Azilah and Sirul, as well as Abdul Razak and the Malaysian government.

A total of 26 witnesses for the plaintiffs, including Altantuya’s father and eldest son, testified in the trial that began in 2019. The government presented three witnesses while Abdul Razak chose not to testify.

Altantuya was killed and her body blown up in Puncak Alam on the early morning of Oct 19, 2006. Azilah and Sirul were subsequently found guilty of her murder. Azilah remains on death row at the Kajang Prison while Sirul, having fled the country, is being held at the Australian immigration centre in Wollongong.

Abdul Razak, who was charged with abetting the murder, was acquitted without his defence being called.

In Vazeer Alam’s broad grounds, he said that although Abdul Razak had chosen not to testify and had denied liability, the court found him liable to the claim of unlawful killing of the deceased.

The court had considered and found that Abdul Razak had a case to answer, as he had sought the assistance of both Azilah and Sirul to deal with the deceased.

“There was no reasonable motive for Azilah and Sirul to kill the deceased. The only link was the third defendant (Abdul Razak), who wanted to stop harassment [by Altantuya],” the judge said, noting Altantuya had come to Malaysia to seek compensation from Abdul Razak for translation work done in Paris. (Previous reports said that the work was in relation to the purchase of the two Scorpene submarines that Malaysia had acquired from France.)

Abdul Razak, the court noted, had sought help from deputy superintendent Musa Safri, who was the aide-de-camp to then deputy prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, to deal with Altantuya. Musa had dispatched Azilah to meet with the political analyst.

It was during this meeting that Azilah related that he could “habiskan perempuan itu” (to finish off the woman), adding he had done this a number of times before. Abdul Razak replied, “perkara sebegini kita jangan fikir” (we should not think such things).

The judge said as Abdul Razak had chosen not to testify, the court had to rely on his Section 112 statement recorded by the police, which showed that he sought assistance from Azilah to stop his family from being harassed and that he continued to “enlist the assistance of a self-confessed killer to deal with the deceased”.

Vazeer Alam observed the following events. That on the night of Oct 18, the deceased was made to come alone to Abdul Razak’s home. Abdul Razak’s hired private investigator, P Balasubramaniam (Bala), called him at a hotel where he was having a meal with his family.

Abdul Razak then called Azilah and told him Altantuya was outside his house. Azilah replied he would go to the house. Abdul Razak instructed Bala to keep Altantuya there until Azilah arrived. It was then that Azilah arrived to take her away.

The judge said when the evidence is considered as a whole, the court found that there is a case against Abdul Razak as his own PI (Bala) had advised him to lodge a police report and to have Altantuya deported.

“Instead, Abdul Razak had proceeded to enlist the assistance of a self-confessed killer to deal with the deceased,” he said, noting this was even after Azilah had informed him he could terminate Altantuya.

“The first defendant (Azilah) did not know the deceased. There was no reasonable motive to kill the deceased, and the only link was the third defendant (Abdul Razak), who wanted to stop the harassment,” the judge said, adding that there was no motive for Azilah and Sirul to kill Altantuya and blow her up with high-grade explosives.

“In the circumstance, I find that the plaintiffs have successfully proved on a balance of probabilities that Abdul Razak has a culpable role in the death of the deceased. If not for Abdul Razak, Azilah and Sirul would not have taken the deceased in their car from his residence and ultimately kill her.

“This court also found the fourth defendant (the government) to be vicariously liable, as the two defendants carried out the killing in the capacity when they were policemen. Judgement is entered on liability,” Vazeer Alam declared.

Sangeet Kaur Deo, Tan Chee Kian and Simranjit Kaur Chhran acted for Altantuya’s family in the lawsuit, while Azilah and Sirul were not represented. Lawyers P Mithran, Avtaran Singh and Eshwinder Kaur Gill appeared for Abdul Razak, while senior federal counsel Zetty Zurina Kamaruddin and federal counsel Khairuddin Amhar Mahmud represented the government.

Back-of-the envelope calculations indicate that if the defendants were to pay the damages forthwith, plus interest, the sum would amount to some RM8.7 million.

The parties to the suit have 30 days to file a notice of appeal.

Azilah and Sirul led the police to the scene of the crime separately, as Azilah was arrested a few days after the murder, and Sirul on Nov 6, 2006, after returning home from official duty overseas. On his return, Sirul also led the police to the same murder scene. Some items belonging to Altantuya were also recovered from his house.

In 2009, the High Court pronounced Azilah and Sirul guilty of Altantuya’s murder but found there was no motive for the killing.

The Court of Appeal four years later, in a unanimous judgement written by Tun Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat — then a judge but now the Chief Justice — acquitted Azilah and Sirul on appeal.

However, a five-member Federal Court overturned the decision in January 2015, ruling both officers guilty of murder. At the time, Sirul had already left the country.

Azilah has since filed for a royal pardon to have his sentence set aside but Sultan Sharafudin Idris Shah of Selangor or the Selangor Pardons Board have yet to make a decision.

In 2019, in a bid to review his conviction and sentence at the Federal Court, Azilah filed a statutory declaration alleging that Najib had a hand in the murder.

However, the apex court in 2020, dismissed Azilah’s application to review his conviction and sentence, essentially ruling  his subsequent claims and about-turn were made too late in the judicial appeal process.

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