PUTRAJAYA (April 19): Shaariibuu Setev and his two grandchildren are appealing the RM5 million quantum in damages awarded by the Shah Alam High Court last Dec 16, over the death of Altantuya Shaariibuu in 2006.
The cross-appeal was filed on Jan 16, a few days after the government and political analyst Abdul Razak Baginda separately filed their notices of appeal on Jan 12 against the compensation.
The family’s lawyer Sangeet Kaur Deo when contacted confirmed and said the matter came up for case management before Court of Appeal deputy registrar Nadia Mohd Kamal, who fixed further case management on the appeal via e-review on June 13.
“This is to update the court over the grounds of judgment and notes of proceedings,” Sangeet told The Edge when contacted.
On Dec 16, Court of Appeal judge Datuk Vazeer Alam Mydin Meera had ruled that former police chief inspector Azilah Hadri, corporal Sirul Azhar Umar, the government and Abdul Razak were liable in Altantuya’s death and ordered them to pay RM5 million in compensation to the family.
He said that the RM100 million sum sought by the family was excessive but ordered all four defendants (Azilah, Sirul, Abdul Razak and the government) to pay RM5 million in general, aggravated and exemplary damages to the family.
Vazeer Alam also ordered all four defendants to pay costs of RM25,000 each.
Altantuya was killed between 10pm on Oct 18, 2006 and Oct 19, 2006 in Puncak Alam, Selangor. Azilah and Sirul were already found guilty of the murder while Abdul Razak was acquitted without his defence being called at the High Court.
Despite choosing not to testify in the civil suit and denying liability, Abdul Razak was found liable to the claim of unlawful killing of the deceased, based on the political analyst's cautioned statement given to the police.
Vazeer Alam said the court had considered the evidence as a whole, 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 added.
Azilah is presently on death row at the Kajang prison, while Sirul is held at a detention centre in Wollongong, Australia after the Court of Appeal had acquitted both of them earlier. The Federal Court had found both policemen guilty in January 2015.