Altantuya murder: Ex-aide’s testimony irrelevant, says Gani Patail

(The Star) – Attorney-General Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail has maintained that the testimony of DSP Musa Safri, the former aide of then deputy prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, had no relevance as the whole narrative of the prosecution’s case has unfolded in the trial before the High Court.

“While respecting the Court of Appeal, the Attorney-General’s Chamber for prosecution is dissatisfied with the decision as non-direction or misdirection by the trial court is not the fault of the prosecution,” he said in a press statement.

As such, he said, the prosecution will file an appeal on the acquittal of former Special Action Force duo C/Insp Azilah Hadri and Kpl Sirul Azhar Umar by the Court of Appeal for the murder of Mongolian national Altantuya Shaariibuu.

The three-member panel of the Court of Appeal on Friday overturned the High Court’s conviction of the two police officers.

The panel comprising Justices Mohamed Apandi Ali, Linton Albert and Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat, had ruled that the cumulative effect of the misdirections by the trial judge had rendered the judgement unsafe.

The panel concluded that the trial judge had erred by not examining whether the contradictions and inconsistencies in the evidence of the prosecution witnesses were material.

In regards to the explosives, they ruled that after linking the explosives to the death of Altantuya, the trial judge should have made a further finding to connect the explosives to the appellants.