Altantuya’s family wants AG to reveal all statements recorded in murder probe
Lawyer Sangeet Kaur Deo says this will help the family decide who to call as witnesses in relation to its RM100 million civil suit against four defendants.
PETALING JAYA: The family of Mongolian national Altantuya Shaariibuu has filed an application to compel the attorney-general (AG) to disclose all statements recorded by the police from accused persons and witnesses during investigations into her murder in 2006.
Lawyer Sangeet Kaur Deo, representing the family, said these statements would determine the witnesses the family needed to call in relation to its RM100 million lawsuit filed against four defendants, including the government.
“We want all statements to be made available, including those of material witnesses who were not called by the prosecution during the criminal trial,” she told FMT.
Sangeet said one of the witnesses was Musa Safri, the aide-de-camp to then-deputy prime minister Najib Razak.
She said the application was filed on Monday and court papers had been served on the AG, who is also the public prosecutor.
“It is likely that the application will be heard over the next two weeks when the trial in the civil case begins in the Shah Alam High Court on Jan 22,” she added.
In October last year, the family’s attempt to include the notes of evidence and the Federal Court judgment on Altantuya’s murder case in their lawsuit was stymied when the High Court threw out their application.
Judge Vazeer Alam Mydin Meera said the law prohibited the inclusion of evidence from another court in a different court proceeding.
Altantuya’s father, Shaariibuu Setev, her mother, Altantsetseg Sanjaa, and her children filed the suit in 2007 against the government, police officers Sirul Azhar Umar and Azilah Hadri, who were convicted of her murder, and political analyst Razak Baginda.
The family alleged there was conspiracy in her murder.
Sirul and Azilah were convicted by the High Court in 2009 of killing Altantuya, who was described as an interpreter and a model.
They succeeded in overturning their conviction at the Court of Appeal in 2013 but the Federal Court in 2015 restored their conviction and sentenced them to death.
Sirul fled to Australia before the final verdict. The Federal Court later issued a warrant of arrest for him.
Razak, who was charged with abetment in the murder, was freed at the end of the prosecution’s case. The court ruled that the charge against him was not proven and the government did not appeal, a move that drew public condemnation.
Neither Sirul, who is being held at an Australian detention centre, nor Azilah, who is on death row at Kajang prison, has challenged the suit.
The lawyers for Sirul and Azilah have discharged themselves in the civil claim while Razak has engaged a lawyer to contest the suit.
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Sangeet also said the family would obtain default judgments against Sirul and Azilah as the two had not filed their defence.