Verdict on Altantuya murder case on Monday

(The Malaysian Insider) – The Federal Court on Monday will hear submissions from parties following the appeal by Putrajaya to set aside the acquittal of two policemen acquitted of the crime of murdering Mongolian Altantuya Shaariibuu in August 2013.

The court will hear the prosecution’s appeal against the two policemen acquitted of the crime – Chief Inspector Azilah Hadri and Corporal Sirul Azhar Umar – of murdering Altantuya, reports Bernama today.

On August 23, 2013, Azilah and Sirul Azhar were freed after the Court of Appeal allowed their appeal and overturned their conviction for the 2006 murder.

Azilah and Sirul were jointly charged and convicted by the High Court in Shah Alam in 2009 with murdering Altantuya, 28, at a forest reserve in Shah Alam in October, 2006.

The prosecution filed its petition of appeal on January 3, 2014, listing six reasons the three-member Court of Appeal bench was wrong in law and facts to allow the two policemen to escape the gallows.

Former political analyst Abdul Razak Baginda, 50, who was charged with abetting Azilah and Sirul Azhar, was acquitted by the High Court on October 31, 2008, after it held that the prosecution had failed to establish a prima facie case against him.

The prosecution did not appeal this decision to the Court of Appeal.