‘So who killed Altantuya?’
The verdict on the two former policemen illustrates the failure of the system, says Lawyers for Liberty’s N Surendran, who is also a PKR leader.
Alyaa Azhar and Leven Woon, FMT
Lawyers for Liberty (LFL) has termed the release of the two policemen involved in the Altantuya Shaariibuu case as a ‘national embarrassment’.
LFL member and PKR vice president N Surendran labelled the Court of Appeal ruling this morning as such and said the verdict was expected.
“We expected this from the beginning since it was a set-up to hide the truth and protect the guilty,” he said.
“The bottom line is, she was murdered in the most gruesome and brutal manner and after so many years, no one has been held accountable or found guilty,” said the Padang Serai MP.
The PKR vice-president then said the verdict was a “national embarrassment and a complete failure of the system”.
“The system has failed because there is no attempt to find out who the real perpetrators are.
“It is a national embarrassment and this will make international news, especially since it involves a foreign national,” he said.
‘So who killed Altantuya?’
Fellow LFL lawyer and PKR leader Latheefa Koya raised the question of who then, killed, Altantuya?
“So the question now is, who actually killed Altantuya? If they [the two former policemen] did not do it, then who did?
“We cannot help but wonder what really is going on. The matter is shocking, we would like to know who killed Altantuya,” she said.
The same question was also raised by Suaram secretariat member Cynthia Gabriel.
“This shocking verdict throws open the murder of Altantuya into scrutiny. So who killed her?
“How were the C4 explosives obtained? It is not like you can get C4 at 7-11 stores,” she said.
Gabriel then asked the pertinent question, similarly with Latheefa: “Who is responsible now for Altantuya’s death?”
“The verdict this morning calls for nothing short of full and fresh investigations into Altantuya’s death .
“Only an independent inquiry will suffice as Malaysians have lost faith in the justice system of the country,” she said, adding that Suaram also asks if Altantuya’s brutal murder was linked to the corruption allegations in the Scorpene deal.
Altantuya was brutally murdered with military explosive C4 in 2006 when she came to Malaysia with her two companions.
She was claimed to be on intimate terms with Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak and his confidant Abdul Razak Baginda and her visit to Malaysia was linked to her demand for commissions in helping Malaysia’s government to secure two French-made Scorpene submarine.
The late private investigator P Balasubramaniam had made a statutory declaration (SD) claiming that Najib was linked to the Altantuya’s murder. He had then retracted the SD, only to backtrack again before his sudden death earlier this year.
Sirul and Azilah were members of elite Unit Tindakan Khas (police’s special action force) and were assigned to be Najib’s bodyguards. They were found guilty for murder and sentenced to death in 2009.
