In final verdict, two ex-commandos to hang for Altantuya’s murder

By admin-s Last updated Jan 13, 2015

(MMO) – The Federal Court reversed today the acquittal of two men over the high-profile 2006 murder of Mongolian model Altantuya Shaariibuu, sending them back to the gallows in the end to the eight-year saga.

The decision by a panel of five judges chaired by Chief Justice Tun Arifin Zakaria was unanimous.

“The Court of Appeal order is set aside. The order of conviction and mandatory death sentence by the High Court are restored,” Tan Sri Suriyadi Halim Omar said in delivering the verdict.

Former police commandos Chief Inspector Azilah Hadri, 39, and Corporal Sirul Azhar Umar, 43, previously won their acquittal in 2013 and walked out of prison as free men.

In the August 23, 2013 acquittal, the Court of Appeal ruled that the High Court trial judge’s misdirection had rendered the duo’s 2009 death sentence and conviction unsafe.

In 2009, the duo formerly with the police’s Special Action Unit (UTK) were found guilty of murdering Altantuya in Mukim Bukit Raja in Klang between 10pm on October 19, 2006 and 1am on October 20, 2006.

During the course of their trial, it was revealed that the Mongolian model was shot and her body blown up with explosives in a jungle clearing on the night of October 19.

The other judges on the five-man Federal Court bench today were Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak Tan Sri Richard Malanjum, Tan Sri Abdull Hamid Embong and Tan Sri Ahmad Maarop.

Today, the Federal Court said the prosecution has successfully proven its case beyond reasonable doubt, also saying that Azilah and Sirul had failed to cast a reasonable doubt on the case against them.