Malaysia must pay damages for Mongolian woman Altantuya’s death if appeal fails: Court
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Abdul Razak Baginda and Mongolian woman Altantuya Shaariibuu. Altantuya had an affair with Razak.
PHOTO: AFP
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KUALA LUMPUR – A Malaysian court ordered the country’s government to pay damages to a murdered Mongolian woman’s family promptly, as long as the state’s appeal to have the decision overturned does not succeed.
Judge Sumathi Murugiah on Feb 12 ordered the government to deposit RM4.7 million (S$1.42 million) within 30 days into the bank account of the lawyer representing Ms Altantuya Shaariibuu’s family, to be released if the government’s May 19 appeal fails.
Mr Abdul Razak Baginda
Ms Altantuya had an affair with Mr Razak, and according to witnesses in her murder trial, worked with him as a translator in relation to Malaysia’s 2002 purchase of submarines from a French state-owned company.
Najib was defence minister at the time and Mr Razak brokered the deal, which is under investigation for corruption in both countries.
In 2022, the government, Mr Razak and two former policemen were found jointly liable for the 2006 murder of Ms Altantuya.
The family applied to the court for the judgment to be enforced because the parties had not yet paid damages. Both the government and the former adviser are appealing the 2022 decision.
Ms Altantuya was shot and her body blown up with military-grade explosives
The night she disappeared, she had been outside the house of Mr Razak, seeking money from him.
Two former policemen, Azilah Hadri and Sirul Azhar Umar, were convicted of her murder but the motive was never established.
Mr Razak was tried for abetting the murder but was acquitted.
In a statutory declaration from death row in 2019, Azilah said Najib ordered him to kill Ms Altantuya, which Najib denies.
Both murderers were sentenced to death. Sirul fled to Australia, which would not extradite him
Azilah is in prison in Malaysia. His death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment in 2024 after Malaysia’s government abolished the mandatory death penalty in 2023 while keeping it as an option for certain crimes.
Ms Altantuya’s family filed a civil suit against the murderers, Mr Razak and the Malaysian government in 2007.
In 2022, a court awarded the family RM5 million in damages. In the application in 2024, they also sought interest on the damages and costs.
Najib is in prison in Malaysia after being convicted of criminal breach of trust, abuse of power and money laundering in relation to 1MDB, the fund that became the centre of a multibillion-dollar scandal that spawned probes across continents.
He had his sentence halved to six years
