AG says will consider reopening Altantuya murder case

(MMO) – Attorney General Tan Sri Tommy Thomas said he will consider reopening investigations into Altantuya Shaariibuu’s murder after one of the commandos sentenced to death for the crime claimed he was ordered to do so by former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

In a report by Bloomberg, Thomas was quoted saying the lack of motive by the two police commandos convicted for the murder meant there was an incomplete picture of the crime.

“Everybody knew that it just did not make sense for the two of them to be solely culpable.

“So we knew that the story was incomplete,” Thomas said.

However Thomas said the reopening of the case was for the purpose of police reinvestigation.

In 2009, Azilah and another ex-commando, Sirul Azhar Umar, were found guilty of murdering Altantuya in 2006 but were released in 2013 on appeal. The Federal Court upheld their conviction in 2015 and reinstated their death sentence.

Azilah has now made a statutory declaration that Najib ordered him directly to kill Altantuya; the SD was included in his application for the Federal Court to review its 2015 ruling.

Najib performed the sumpah laknat on Friday to deny Azilah’s statutory declaration that the ex-prime minister told him directly to kill the Mongolian in 2006.

The sumpah laknat is a religious rite that Muslims perform to depict innocence, in which they deny the allegations against them while simultaneously seeking divine retribution on their accusers.

It has no legal significance here and its function is limited to affecting public opinion.