Altantuya Muder Case Trial Report

Razak plotted murder: DPP

The high-profile Altantuya Shaariibuu murder trial opened in the High Court today with the prosecution saying that police special unit Chief Inspector Azilah Hadri and Cpl Sirul Azhar Umar killed the Mongolian on instructions of her lover, political analyst Abdul Razak Abdullah Baginda.
DPP Tun Abdul Majid Tun Hamzah said the prosecution will prove:
* Abdul Razak planned and ordered the killing of Altantuya, and that two officers of the police elite unit executed the order.
* He had ignored a senior police officer's advice to lodge a police report regarding Altantuya's harassment, instead telling him to keep secret what he had been told.
* Abdul Razak had met Azilah and a few hours later, Azilah and Sirul Azhar were seen at Hotel Malaya, where Altantuya stayed.
* Altantuya's blood was found on a pair of slippers in Sirul Azhar's car. Some of her belongings were also found in his possession. Sirul Azhar had also confessed his crime to his superior officer.
First prosecution witness, private investigator P. Balasubramaniam, testified:
* He was hired by Abdul Razak to stop a Mongolian woman from meeting him. Also told to follow his daughter as a threat had been made against her.
* On Oct 9, he got a call the Mongolian was in front of Bangunan Lembaga Getah Asli in Ampang where Abdul Razak's office is located.
* He called the police and two policemen turned up. One of them spoke to a woman named "Aminah" (Altantuya).
* He was told by the policemen that the woman wanted to meet her husband who works in the building. He called Abdul Razak but he had left.

'Altantunya's blood found on accused's slippers'

SHAH ALAM (June 18, 2007): Police found the blood of Mongolian Altantuya Shaariibuu on the slippers of Kpl Sirul Azhar Umar of the police special action unit, the prosecution told the High Court when outlining its case on day one of the high-profile trial.
Prosecution team leader Tun Abdul Majid Tun Hamzah said police also found several items belonging to Altantuya in Sirul Azhar's possession and Sirul Azhar had also made a confession to his superior officer.
He said they also have evidence to show that Chief Insp Azilah Hadri and political analyst Abdul Razak Baginda had met at Razaks office, and that a few hours later, Azilah and Sirul Azhar were seen at Hotel Malaya, where Altantuya stayed.
Tun Abdul Majid told trial judge Datuk Mohd Zaki Md Yasin the prosecution will prove beyond reasonable doubt that Sirul Azhar, 35, and Azilah, 30, murdered the 28-year-old Mongolian and Abdul Razak, 47, who was her lover, had abetted them by planning and ordering the killing.

To do this, he said, they will rely on direct and circumstantial evidence.
"Our case will also depend on expert, scientific, documentary testimony and also Sirul Azhar's confession to the crime to his superiors," he said.
At the outset, the prosecution got the court's approval to amend the charge against Abdul Razak, regarding the time he allegedly committed the abetment.
The amendment stated the offence was committed between 9.54am on Oct 18, 2006 and 9.45pm on Oct 19, 2006. (The original charge had put it at between 9.45am and 11.05am on Oct 18, 2006)
Tun Abdul Majid laid out the facts of the case, saying Abdul Razak had known Altantuya from 2004 until August 2005, when their relationship ended.
He said during the time, Abdul Razak had given money to Altantuya but decided to stop doing so in 2006, after which the woman came here from Mongolia to demand for more money.
He said evidence will be adduced to show the following:
* Altantuya had arrived in Kuala Lumpur with two friends on Oct 8, 2006 to meet Abdul Razak.
* Altantuya had left notes to Abdul Razak in an effort to meet him and demand money and she had made threats that if her demands were not met, his daughter's life would be in danger.
* To avoid being harassed, Abdul Razak had hired a private investigator to tail the victim and provide security for his home to prevent the victim from harassing or meeting him.
* Despite the private investigator being hired, Abdul Razak continued to be harassed and threatened by the Mongolian woman.
* Abdul Razak had related the threats and problem faced by him to a friend, a senior police officer, and sought his advice.
* The friend had advised Abdul Razak to lodge a police report because of the seriousness of the threat but the political analyst had refused to. Abdul Razak had instead asked the senior police officer to keep secret what he had told him.
* He instead asked the friend to introduce a police officer from the Brickfields police station to help him overcome his problem.
* That officer had said he knew an officer from the Special Action Unit, the officer being the first accused Azilah.
* The Brickfields officer had given Azilah's contact number to Abdul Razak.
* Azilah had met Abdul Razak at Razak's office between 9.54am and 11.05am on Oct 18, 2006.
* Altantuya caused a ruckus at Abdul Razak's home on Oct 19, as a result of which she was taken to the police station to lodge a report, but Abdul Razak, through a private investigator, had asked her not to do so for fear it would be publicised in the newspapers.
* Evidence from witnesses shows Altantuya was taken from Abdul Razak's house on the fateful day, based on CCTV recordings, and telephone communication transactions would reveal the connection and planning among the three accused in committing the murder.
* The private investigator hired by Abdul Razak had suggested to him to get the Immigration Department's help to send Altantuya home, but the advice was ignored.
* Azilah and Sirul Azhar were the last persons seen with Altantuya before her killing.
Tun Abdul Majid said Altantuya was taken to the scene of the killing and Azilah and Sirul Azhar had blown up the victim with explosives.
"Evidence will be forwarded to show 'probable blast-related injuries' was the cause of death, based on the pathologist's report," he said.

Private eye: Razak hired me to stop woman from meeting him

SHAH ALAM (June 18, 2007): The prosecution's first witness - a private investigator - told the High Court he was hired by Abdul Razak Abdullah to stop a Mongolian woman from meeting him as she was threatening him for money.
P. Balasubramaniam, 47, said he met Abdul Razak after getting a call from a person called "Magen".

He said he went to Abdul Razak's office on the 10th floor of Bangunan Lembaga Getah Asli and met him, either on Oct 6 or 7.
Abdul Razak told him he had received a threatening call from a man, believed to be a policeman, and that he sounded like a Chinese. He said Abdul Razak told him he recorded the call on his handphone.
Balasubramaniam said he told Abdul Razak to lodge a police report but was told he had a family lawyer, whom he later met to discuss his payment.
He said Abdul Razak also gave him the following instructions:
* A Mongolian woman would come to his office and that he was to stop her from meeting him. He was to follow Abdul Razak from office to his home.
* The next day, Abdul Razak told him to follow his daughter to and from her school in Damansara.
Asked by DPP Tun Abdul Majid Tun Hamzah during examination why he was ordered to follow the daughter, he said the threat was made against Abdul Razak's daughter.
He said he was also asked to "stand by" at Abdul Razak's office, and to call him should the woman appear there.
Balasubramaniam said that on Oct 9, 2006, he received a call saying the woman was in front of the building.
He said he was at Plaza Pekeliling between 9am and 10.30am and he told his assistant, K. Suras Kumar, to go to the building first. He arrived five minutes later and went up to the 10th floor.
There, receptionist Siti Aishah Mohd Azlan told him three women and a man had gone down to the lower ground floor.
He said he was also told by Siti Aishah one of the women had slipped a letter on the floor in an office.
Balasubramaniam said he went down and saw the women outside a gate and looking at the office. He said he was with Suras at the lobby.
Later, when the Mongolian women were standing near the stairs, Suras borrowed a lighter from one of the woman and struck up a conservation with them while the man was waiting in the car.
Balasubramaniam then called Razak and told him to leave the building from the back entrance.
He said he then called the police and two policemen turned up. One of them, V. Palaniandy, spoke to a woman named "Aminah" (Altantuya).
The policeman later told him that Aminah's "husband" worked as an executive director in the building and that they were waiting to meet him.
He said he called Abdul Razak again and was told he had left the building.
He continues his testimony today.