Altantuya case: Sirul asks for mistrial

(The Star) –  Murder accused Kpl Sirul Azhar Umar has asked the High Court here to acquit him of the murder of Mongolian national Altantuya Shaariibuu or alternatively, declare a mistrial for the case to be re-tried with all three accused.

His lawyer Kamarul Hisham Kamaruddin made the submission Monday morning to High Court Judge Justice Mohd Zaki Md Yasin.

The three accused are Unit Tindakan Khas (UTK) operatives C/Insp Azilah Hadri, 32, and Kpl Sirul, 36, who are on trial for allegedly murdering the 28-year-old translator between 10pm on Oct 19 and 1am on Oct 20, 2006 at Mukim Bukit Raja here.

The third is political analyst Abdul Razak Baginda, who was cleared earlier of an abetment charge.

Kpl Sirul had earlier said he had been made a scapegoat by “certain parties” to protect their “evil” plan.

He said he had observed, during the murder trial proceedings, how several main prosecution witnesses, especially D9 (serious crime division) policemen from city police contingent, had “fabricated stories.”

“They did not tell the truth and always changed their stories when they were cross-examined (over her murder),” he said.