Murder of Shaariibuugiin Altantuyaa

The Shah Alam High Court originally acquitted Abdul Razak Baginda and meted out the death sentence to two of the accused, Chief Inspector Azilah Hadri and Corporal Sirul Azhar Umar, on 9 April 2009, wrapping up the 159-day trial.

[7] After the Malaysian 14th general election marking a historic defeat for the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition, Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad and some relevant parties including Altantuyaa's father have hoped for further investigations to find the motive of murder and bring justice to the case.

[14][15] Hong Kong-based news website Asia Sentinel revealed in a series of photographs that Altantuyaa was in France during which time the two quickly became romantically involved.

[20] Afraid of being prosecuted by the Malaysian courts for giving a false statement, Raja Petra fled to England, leaving his wife and children behind.

[21] In addition, a former aide to Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, Muhamad Rahimi Osman, claimed that Sirul's family was enticed to make a false statement that Najib was involved in Altantuyaa's murder.

[27][28] The same report noted instead the entry of a SHAARIYBUU Bayasgalan, who bore similarities to, but was not conclusively identified as Altantuyaa, as well as pointed out that Najib's entourage might have entered France through diplomatic channels as there was evidence of his presence but no corresponding immigration record.

When questioned by the lawyer of the victim's family, Karpal Singh, Burmaa identified the official as then Deputy Prime Minister, Najib Tun Razak.

[43] However, in a development 13 years later at a court hearing in the civil case brought against former policemen Azilah Hadri and Sirul Azhar Umar, as well as Najib and the Malaysian government by Altantuya's father, incriminating evidence emerged against Baginda.

The witnesses sought included Malaysia Today editor, Raja Petra Kamarudin and private investigator, P. Balasubramaniam, who was unlocatable at that time.

[55] Dr. Shariibuu later withdrew the application but said he would still proceed with the claim against Abdul Razak, Azilah, Sirul Azhar, and the Government of Malaysia for damages over Altantuyaa's death.

[5][64] After the Federal Court's ruling however, Azliah was the only person out of the duo to return to prison, as it was discovered that Sirul did not show up during the appeal hearing and was believed to be in Australia.

[70] However, Australia's non-refoulement obligations meant that Sirul could not be deported back to Malaysia due to his pending death sentence and he remained indefinitely detained in Villawood Immigration Detention Centre until November 2023 when a High Court ruling on another asylum seeker case (NZYQ v. Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs & Anor) ruled the indefinite detention of asylum seekers to be unlawful.

[74] Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who led Pakatan Harapan to defeat Barisan Nasional in the 14th General Election on 9 May 2018, said the murder case should be reopened and agreed that it warranted further investigation.

On 11 July 2024, High Court Judge Vazeer Alam Mydin Meera ruled that all the four accused should pay RM5 million in damages to the family of Altantuyaa.

[88] In a statutory declaration in his sedition trial in June 2008, Raja Petra said that he was "reliably informed" that Rosmah Mansor (the wife of Malaysia's Deputy Prime Minister, Najib Razak) was one of three individuals who were present at the crime scene when Altantuyaa Shaariibuu was murdered on 19 October 2006.

Abdul 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.

[95] The Malaysian Civil Liberties Movement alleged that the interview had been heavily edited and spin doctored in favour of Prime Minister Najib Razak just in time for the upcoming Sarawak state elections.

[99][100] A second statutory declaration was filed on 1 July 2008 by Abdul Razak Baginda's private investigator P. Balasubramaniam, disclosing then deputy Prime Minister Najib's links to Altantuyaa.

[101] In the statutory declaration Abdul Razak had told Balasubramaniam that the deputy prime minister had a sexual relationship with Altantuyaa and that the trio had dined together in Paris.

Detailed conversations in a statutory declaration revealed that Abdul Razak had in effect inherited Altantuyaa as a lover from Najib, who passed her on because he did not want to be harassed as a deputy prime minister.

[105] The Malaysian police said on Sunday 6 July that they have asked Interpol to help find the private investigator who had been reported missing since making explosive claims linking the deputy premier to a murder.

He also made damning accusations against Prime Minister Najib Razak and his wife Rosmah Mansor, implying they were the ones giving instructions and had prior knowledge of coverup of the first statutory declaration.

[121] In a biography launched on 19 March 2013, Rosmah Mansor denied any involvement with the murder of Altantuya, stating that she was attending a special session with the Islamic Orphans Welfare Association on the day in question, and describing the accusations against her as "slander".

[128] He made further references to the lawyer duo who were involved in drafting the second statutory declaration, implying they came from the law firm of Zul Rafique & Partners of Kuala Lumpur.

[129] It was later inferred to the Malaysian Bar Council by several parties, including activist Haris Ibrahim [130] and Robert Phang[131] that the lawyer duo was Tan Sri Cecil Abraham and his son.

[133][134][135] A professional misconduct complaint was to be lodged against Cecil Abraham by the Bar Council,[136] where under the Legal Profession Act he could be reprimanded, fined and suspended from practice for up to five years.

[150][151] A lawyer for Chief Inspector Azilah Hadri said the type of explosives used in the murder of Mongolian national Altantuyaa Shaariibuu is not in the stock of federal police headquarters Bukit Aman.

[156][157] Following the airing of the documentary on 10 September 2015, the Malaysian Prime Minister's Department and the former Inspector-General of Police, Musa Hassan, both issued statements contesting the report's assertions.

[158][159] In an interview with The Malaysian Insider, Abdul Razak Baginda[160] claimed that Altantuyaa Shaariibuu was blackmailing him for amounts in the US$5,000 to US$8,000 range on personal matters, which prompted him to enlist Deputy Superintendent Musa Safri for help, and hire private investigator P. Balasubramaniam for protection.

[162] Abdul Razak Baginda also denied the murder was related to his submarine deal, and claimed P. Balasubramaniam's statutory declaration, that implicated the Deputy Prime Minister, was based on hearsay.