Cops should reopen Altantuya murder case, ex-IGP says

(Malay Mail Online) – Former Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Tan Sri Musa Hassan said the police should reopen Altantuya Shaariibuu’s murder case to verify Sirul Azhar Umar’s recent claim that he had killed her under orders.

Musa, who was IGP during the October 2006 murder, told Sinar Harian, however, that Sirul, who is one of the Mongolian model’s convicted killers, could be merely making an allegation.

“Look at what Sirul has revealed, investigate the truth and validate it. He must verify what he said.

“Its possible he was just making an allegation,” the retired police chief was quoted saying in the Malay daily.

Musa added, however, that he was not aware if Sirul had made the same claim before in the past.

“All the testimonies have been given in court, if there are new statements made, the police should investigate them,” he added, according to Sinar Harian.

According to PAS information chief Datuk Mahfuz Omar this afternoon, Sirul will address the Malaysian media in a brief 15-minute teleconference next Monday.

The former police commando, who is currently held in Australia, recently told Malaysiakini in an interview that he is considering revealing why he and another former police commando shot dead the Mongolian model and blew her body up with explosives.

Apart from claiming that he had merely acted under orders then, he also said that the Federal Court should have called his then-superior, deputy superintendent Musa Safri, to testify.

Home Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi has confirmed that Malaysian police have sent a formal request to Australia through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to extradite Sirul.

Australia’s extradition legislation prohibits an individual from being sent back to another country for an offence punishable by death, unless that country pledges not to carry out a death sentence.

Sirul and former chief Inspector Azilah Hadri were charged with the murder of 28-year-old Altantuya in 2006 and convicted in 2009.

They were freed after the appellate court acquitted them in 2013, but the Federal Court reversed the acquittal last month and sent them back to hang, marking the end to the eight-year saga.