Court cancels Azilah’s hearing to set aside Altantuya murder conviction

(FMT) – The Federal Court has vacated the hearing of a review application filed by former policeman Azilah Hadri who is seeking to set aside his death sentence for the murder of Mongolian citizen Altantuya Shaariibuu.

Courts have been out of bounds for hearings and appeals requiring the physical presence of lawyers since the movement control order took effect on March 18.

Deputy public prosecutor Mohd Dusuki Mokhtar said Federal Court deputy registrar Azniza Mohd Ali had given notice through a letter last week that today’s scheduled proceedings would be cancelled.

“Parties will be informed of the new hearing date,” he told FMT.

Lawyer J Kuldeep Kumar, who is representing Azilah, also confirmed that the hearing had been postponed.

Today, an apex court bench was also scheduled to hear an intervener application by former prime minister Najib Razak to be made a party in the review application.

Azilah had earlier filed an objection against having the former prime minister made an intervener in his case.

He filed the review last December under Rule 137 of the Federal Court Rules 1995 to set aside his 2015 conviction and order a re-trial to prevent a miscarriage of justice.

Azilah, who was convicted together with former policeman Sirul Azhar Umar, said among others that Abdul Razak Baginda, Altantuya’s former lover who was acquitted of her murder, and senior police officer Musa Safri were aware of “instructions” from Najib.

Both were sentenced to death in January 2015, nine years after Altantuya was killed in a forest near Shah Alam and her body blown up with explosives.

A five-member bench chaired by then-chief justice Arifin Zakaria overturned their earlier acquittal by the Court of Appeal.