Shaariibuugiin Altantuyaa

Shaariibuugiin Altantuyaa (Mongolian language: Шаарийбуугийн Алтантуяа; sometimes also "Altantuya Shaariibuu"; 1978 – 2006), a Mongolian national, was a murder victim who was either murdered by C-4 explosives or was somehow killed first and her remains destroyed with C-4 in October 2006 in a deserted area in Shah Alam, Malaysia near Kuala Lumpur.

Early life

Altantuyaa was born in 1978. Her parents raised her and her sister while they worked in Russia where Altantuyaa started first grade elementary school. She was reportedly fluent in Mongolian, Russian, Chinese and English. [cite news |title=Malaysian justice put on trial|publisher=Asia Times Online|date=2007-07-12 |accessdate=2007-07-12 |url=http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/IG12Ae01.html] .

Altantuyaa moved back to Mongolia in 1990 and a few years later, married a Mongolian techno singer, Maadai. They had a child in 1996 but the marriage ended in divorce and the child went to live with Altantuyaa's parents.

Despite training as a teacher, Altantuyaa briefly moved to France where she attended modeling school before returning to Mongolia.

Altantuyaa remarried and had another child in 2003 but the second marriage also ended in divorce. The second child also lives with Altantuyaa's parents. [cite news |title=Altantuya married twice, had two kids|publisher=TheStar|date=2007-11-15 |accessdate=2007-11-15 |url=http://www.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2006/11/15/nation/16020640&sec=nation] Her mother said she has never been a model. [cite news|last=Chua|first=Eddie|title=Altantuya was never a fashion model but was aspiring to be, says mum|publisher=The Star, Malaysia|date=2006-11-16|accessdate=2007-09-25|url=http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2006/11/16/nation/16038894&sec=nation] .

Murder

She was allegedly introduced to Abdul Razak Baginda, a defense analyst from the Malaysian Strategic Research Centre think-tank,at an international diamond convention in Hong Kong by Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister, Najib Tun Razak, and reportedlyFact|date=October 2008 began a relationship with him. She reportedlyFact|date=October 2008 had worked as Abdul Razak’s translator on a deal he was brokering for the Malaysian government to buy submarines from France. The pair seem to have travelled to Paris together for the submarine deal. [cite news | title=Who was Altantuya Shaariibuu? | date=2007-12-05 | publisher=Asia Sentinel | url =http://www.asiasentinel.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=916&Itemid=31 | work = John Berthelsen | pages = | accessdate = 2007-12-05 | language = ]

Some sources allegeWho|date=October 2008 that Altantuya came to Kuala Lumpur with a cousin in early October 2006 intending to confront Abdul Razak. When she went missing on Oct 19, her cousin lodged a police report and sought help from the Mongolian embassy in Bangkok. Altantuya, by her own admission in the last letter she wrote before her murder, had been blackmailing RazakFact|date=October 2008. She did not say how she was blackmailing him, leaving open lots of questions.

The Malaysian police found fragments of bone, later verified as hers, in forested land near the Subang Dam in Puncak Alam, Shah Alam. Police investigation of her remains revealed that she was shot twice before C-4 explosives were used on her remains, although there has been later suggestion that the C-4 explosives may have killed her. When her remains were found their identity could only be confirmed with DNA testing. The provenance of the C-4 remains unclear. [cite news | title=PI points finger at Malaysia No. 2 leader in new twist to Mongolian's murder | date=2008-07-03 | publisher=International Herald Tribune | url =http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/07/03/asia/AS-Malaysia-Mongolian-Murder.php | work =International Herald Tribune | pages = | accessdate = 2008-07-03 | language = ]

Abdul Razak and three members of the police force were arrested during the murder investigation. The two murder suspects have been named as Chief Inspector Azilah Hadri, 30 and Corporal Sirul Azhar Umar, 35. They had been members of the elite Unit Tindakan Khas (the Malaysian Police Special Action Force or counter-terrorism unit) and were both assigned to the office of the Deputy Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak, who was also the Defence Minister at the time of the murder. Abdul Razak has been charged with abetment in the murder. [cite news | title=Prosecution closes its case on Altantuya murder trial | date=2008-06-24 | publisher=Sabah Times | url =http://www.newsabahtimes.com.my/nstweb/fullstory/18922 | work =Sabah Times | pages = | accessdate = 2008-06-24 | language = ]

Murder trial

The trial was originally going to be held in March 2007, but was postponed until the 4th of June 2007. Due to controversial and last-minute changes in the prosecution and defence teams, and the presiding judge, the trial was again postponed until 18 June 2007. The pre-trial preparations have seen both the prosecution and defence teams level accusations of evidential impropriety at one another. During the trial there was an incident between Baginda's wife and the victim's father.

According to testimony in the trial of Altantuya's accused murderer Abdul Razak Baginda, the murdered woman accompanied him to Paris at a time when Malaysia's defense ministry, headed by Najib Tun Razak, was negotiating through a Malaysian company, Perimekar Sdn Bhd, to buy two Scorpene submarines and a used Agosta submarine produced by the French government under a French-Spanish joint venture, Armaris. Perimekar at the time was owned by a company called Ombak Laut, which was wholly owned by Abdul Razak. [cite news | title=Malaysia’s legal pursuit of Anwar Ibrahim is destroying the country’s reputation | date=2008-07-21 | publisher=Malaysia Sentinel | url =http://www.asiasentinel.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1338&Itemid=35 | work =John Berthelsen | pages = | accessdate = 2008-07-21 | language = ]

On July 22, 2008 lawyer Karpal Singh filed a notice of motion to call Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak and three others to testify in the trial for the murder of Mongolian Altantuya Shaariibuu. Karpal who holds a watching brief for Altantuya's family, also sought to recall private detective P. Balasubramaniam who was the first prosecution witness in the trial. [cite news | title=Karpal Wants Najib To Testify In Altantuya Murder Trial | date=2008-07-21 | publisher=Bernama | url =http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v3/news_lite.php?id=347533| work =Bernama | pages = | accessdate = 2008-07-21 | language = ] Karpal said that summoning Najib is bound to admit fresh evidence to the case. The application was filed under Section 425 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC) which allows a court to summon or recall any person as a witness in a trial. It also allows the court to summon or recall any such person if his evidence appears to the court to be essential to the just decision of the case. [cite news | title=Notice filed to summon Najib to Altantuya trial | date=2008-07-22 | publisher=TheEdge Daily | url =http://www.theedgedaily.com/cms/content.jsp?id=com.tms.cms.article.Article_48d2fbcf-cb73c03a-d964af00-ddf8c27b| work =The Edge Daily | pages = | accessdate = 2008-07-22 | language = ] On July 23, 2008 the High Court rejected a petition by lawyer Karpal Singh to obtain testimony from Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak, dealing a blow to the opposition's efforts to link Najib to the 2006 killing of translator Altantuya Shaariibuu. In rejecting the application, High Court judge Mohd Zaki said Karpal, who is holding a watching brief for victim Altantuya's family, has no locus standi or is in no position to make the application. He mentioned only the parties involved, namely the prosecution and the defence, have the right to do so. [cite news | title=Malaysian High Court rejects move to summon DPM Najib to testify in court | date=2008-07-24 | publisher=Channel News Asia | url =http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/southeastasia/view/362308/1/.html| work =ChannelNewsAsia | pages = | accessdate = 2008-07-24 | language = ] [cite news | title=Opposition Lawyer Loses Bid To Summon Malaysia's Deputy Leader As Murder Trial Witness | date=2008-07-23 | publisher=SinChew | url =http://www.mysinchew.com/node/14191?tid=14| work =Sin Chew | pages = | accessdate = 2008-07-23 | language = ]

New Evidence

First Statutory Declaration

In a statutory declaration in his sedition trial in June 2008, Raja Petra accused Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor (the wife of Malaysia's Deputy Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak) of being one of three individuals who were present at the crime scene when Altantuya Shaariibuu was murdered on Oct 19, 2006 [ [http://blog.limkitsiang.com/2008/06/21/rpks-bombshell-allegation-on-altantuya-murder-abdullah-najib-rosmah-cannot-remain-silent/ Lim Kit Siang » Blog Archive » RPK’s bombshell allegation on Altantuya murder - Abdullah, Najib, Rosmah cannot remain silent ] ] . He wrote that Najib’s wife, Rosmah Mansor, and Acting Colonel Aziz Buyong and his wife, Norhayati, Rosmah’s aide-de-camp, were present at the scene of the murder and that Aziz Buyong was the individual who placed C4 plastic explosive on Altantuya’s body and blew it up. [cite news | title=Malaysian Deputy Premier’s Wife Linked to Murder | date=2008-06-23 | publisher=Asian Sentinel | url =http://www.asiasentinel.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1277&Itemid=34 | work =Asian Sentinel | pages = | accessdate = 2008-06-23 | language = ]

Dr Shaariibuu Setev, the father of murdered Mongolian woman Altantuya Shaariibuu, has asked the police to conduct a thorough investigation into an allegation by Malaysia Today editor Raja Petra Kamaruddin. He said the police should look seriously into the allegation by Raja Petra as it might provide them with fresh evidence. [cite news | title=Shaariibuu Wants Police To Thoroughly Investigate Raja Petra's Allegation | date=2008-06-24 | publisher=Bernama | url =http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v3/news_lite.php?id=341652 | work =Bernama | pages = | accessdate = 2008-06-24 | language = ] In retaliation, the two people named in Raja Petra Kamarudin’s statutory declaration on June 18, Lt-Col Aziz Buyong and his wife Lt-Col Norhayati Hassan, as having been present at the murder scene of Mongolian Altantuya Shaariibuu are suing the Malaysia Today editor for defamation. Aziz is seeking an apology from Raja Petra to be published in certain websites and newspapers, the removal of the statutory declaration from his blog and damages of RM1 million. [cite news | title=Two sue Raja Petra over statutory declaration | date=2008-06-28 | publisher=Malaysia Today | url =http://www.malaysia-today.net/2008/content/view/9328/ | work =Malaysia Today | pages = | accessdate = 2008-06-28 | language = ]

Second Statutory Declaration

A second statutory declaration was filed on July 1,2008 by Abdul Razak Baginda's private investigator P. Balasubramaniam, disclosing Najib's links to the murdered Mongolian girl. He said the police omitted information about the relationship between Najib and Mongolian murder victim Altantuya Shaariibuu in his statement. [ cite news|url=http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/85500|publisher=Malaysiakini=1 July 2008|accessdate=2008-07-01|title=PI makes shocking revelations linking Najib to Altantuya ] [ cite news|url=http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/7/3/nation/20080703123900&sec=nation|publisher=TheStar=1 July 2008|accessdate=2008-07-01|title=Altantuya murder: PI implicates senior politician ] In the declaration Abdul Razak had told Balasubramaniam that the deputy prime minister had a sexual relationship with Altantuya and that the trio had dined together in Paris. Balasubramaniam detailed conversations in a statutory declaration in which the well-connected political analyst allegedly told him he had in effect inherited Altantuya as a lover from Najib, who passed her on because he didn’t want to be harassed as deputy prime minister. Among other lurid details, Balasubramaniam described text messages between Najib and Abdul Razak in which the latter was asking for help to avoid arrest. [ cite news|url=http://asiasentinel.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1344&Itemid=31|publisher=AFP=24 July 2008|accessdate=2008-07-24|title=Malaysia’s Najib Ducks a Court Appearance ] Former deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has called for a Royal Commission of Inquiry to look into the case. [ cite news|url=http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5iR9mcSNwacbvuIoMU8HMSt6J8lLw|publisher=AFP=3 July 2008|accessdate=2008-07-03|title=Malaysian deputy premier denies affair with murdered Mongolian ]

P. Balasubramaniam made a retraction of the statutory declaration he made on July 1 and its replacement with one that erased all traces of allegations with references to Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak and Altantuya Shaariibuu's murder. There were accusations that this new statutory declaration could have been due to intimidation or inducement, and was done on his own free will. Bala's first lawyer Americk Singh Sidhu said he was not able to get in touch with Bala despite repeated phone calls. [ cite news|url=http://www.theedgedaily.com/cms/content.jsp?id=com.tms.cms.article.Article_ee207b59-cb73c03a-1b092820-4c5b6be3|publisher=TheEdge=4 July 2008|accessdate=2008-07-04|title=Was Bala Subramaniam's retraction due to intimidation? ] The Malaysian police said on Sunday 6 July that they have asked Interpol to help find the private investigator who has been reported missing since making explosive claims linking the deputy premier to a murder. Bala's nephew has filed a missing person's report, saying the investigator and his family had disappeared. [ cite news|url=http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080706/wl_afp/malaysiapoliticsmongoliacrime_080706141354|publisher=AFP=6 July 2008|accessdate=2008-07-06|title=Malaysia seeks Interpol help to find missing investigator in murder claim ] It was discovered on July 10 that Balasubramaniam's house in Taman Pelangi here has been broken into but police have yet to ascertain whether anything was stolen. Balasubramaniam is said to have taken refuge in a neighbouring country with his wife and children. [ cite news|url=http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/7/11/nation/21799355&sec=nation|publisher=TheStar=11 July 2008|accessdate=2008-07-11|title=Bala’s house broken into ]

Alleged Interference by Najib

Even behind bars under ISA detention, Raja Petra's website Malaysia Today carried a report detailing allegations on an exchange of text messages between Najib and Shafee Abdullah, the prominent lawyer who represented Abdul Razak Baginda before he was charged with abetting two police officers in the murder of the Altantunya. The SMSes, which went on from 8 November to 2 December, 2006 raises some questions over the handling of the murder case and suggests that Najib took a strong interest in the investigation from the beginning. [cite news| title=Najib under pressure, again |date=2008-10-11| publisher=Malaysian Insider|url= http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/index.php/malaysia/10355-najib-under-pressure-again| work = The MalaysianInsider| accessdate = 2008-10-11]

External links

;News Coverage
* [http://thecourtroom.stomp.com.sg/thecourtroom/murderofmongolmodel/index.html "Brutal Murder of a Mongolian Beauty"] , The Straits Times, Singapore
* [http://www.asiasentinel.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=916&Itemid=31 "Who was Altantuya Shaariibuu?"] , Asia Sentinel

References