Malaysia to Re-open Case of Murdered Mongolian Interpreter: Police Chief

Updated at 11:38 a.m. ET on 2018-06-21

Malaysia will re-investigate the murder of Mongolian model Altantunya Shariibuu, the nation’s police chief told BenarNews on Wednesday, after her father lodged a police report and met with Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad.

The re-opening of the murder probe, confirmed by Police Inspector-General Mohamad Fuzi Harun, will take place almost 12 years after the gruesome killing led to a scandal in the highest levels of Malaysian government.

“A new investigation paper (IP) will be opened and the IP will be submitted to the attorney general once it’s completed,” Fuzi said, without giving a timeframe on the new probe.

The police chief said the case would be investigated under Section 302 of the nation’s Penal Code for murder, the same provision used in the previous investigation.

“We will determine whether a new investigation team will be set up as soon as possible,” Fuzi said. His statement was remarkable given that, late last month, he said his department had found no grounds to re-open the case of the murdered Mongolian woman, according to local media reports at the time.

Fuzi’s statement to BenarNews came hours after the victim’s father, Setev Shaariibuu, met Mahathir at the prime minister’s office on Wednesday evening.

Setev’s lawyer, Ramkarpal Singh, indicated that Malaysia’s new prime minister would also support a new probe.

“He (Mahathir) agreed that it is a case that warrants further investigation and the prime minister was also adamant that the process must follow the rule of law,” Singh told reporters after the 30-minute meeting, which was also attended by a Mongolian interpreter and a Mongolian consulate official.

“We are confident that the rule of law will take its course,” he said. On Tuesday, he and his client met for about an hour with Tommy Thomas, Malaysia’s new attorney general.

Altantuya Shaariibuu was 28 years old and pregnant when she was shot dead and her body blown up with military-grade explosives in a remote jungle outside Kuala Lumpur in October 2006.

Altantuya worked as a translator during the Malaysian government’s negotiations for the purchase of two Scorpene-class submarines from French shipbuilding giant DCNI in 2002. She was also reportedly the mistress of Abdul Razak Baginda, a defense analyst close to then-Defense Minister Najib Razak.

Two police officers who were serving as members of Najib’s personal security detail at the time were convicted of the murder and sentenced to death, but the court did not establish their motive. One of them fled to Australia, where he has been held at an immigration detention center since January 2015.

Abdul Razak Baginda was tried but acquitted of abetting the crime. The court has not determined who planned the killing. Last year, Reuters news agency reported that Abdul Razak Baginda and two French defense industry executives had been placed under formal investigation in France as part of a probe into alleged kickbacks in connection with the submarine deal.

The French probe was launched in 2010 after Malaysian human rights group Suaram alleged that the deal had led to some U.S. $130 million in commissions being paid to a company linked to Najib Razak.

Najib, the now former prime minister whose Barisan Nasional coalition was defeated in the May 9 general election, has denied any links to the killing and rejected allegations of corruption in the purchase of the submarines.

Victim’s father: Najib’s former aide a ‘crucial witness’

Before meeting Mahathir, Setev filed a police report at the Dang Wangi police station in Kuala Lumpur. In the report, Setev named Musa Safri, Najib’s former aide-de-camp, as a “crucial witness” in the case.

Singh, Setev’s attorney, questioned why the state prosecutor during the previous trial had not called Musa to testify and explain his role.

“I believe the previous investigation has already identified the person, or if there is more than one, who ordered the murder,” Singh told reporters outside the police station.

Deputy Superintendent Musa Safri had ordered police officers Azilah Hadri and Sirul Azhar Umar to pick up Altantuya from Razak Baginda’s home on the night she was murdered in October 2006, according to a report published on May 23 by online news portal Asia Sentinel, quoting documents from French prosecutors. Musa was the personal assistant of Najib, who was then serving as defense minister.

But Musa, who has retired from the police force, was never questioned by investigators nor called up to testify, the report said. Azilah is currently on death row in Kajang prison in the Malaysian state of Selangor, while Sirul fled to Australia.

Altantuya’s alleged affair with Abdul Razak Baginda emerged after reports said that, soon before her death, she had demanded a payoff for working as an interpreter in the French submarine deal.

Investigators believe Altantuya was shot dead before her body was blown up with plastic explosives known as C-4 in a forested area.

Setev, in his police report, which was seen by BenarNews, said Azilah and Sirul had no motive to kill Altantuya because both men had never met his daughter.

Musa “is a very crucial witness as he would be able to provide information as to who instructed him to secure Azilah and Sirul's attendance,” Setev said.

“I believe if not for Musa, Azilah and Sirul would not have come to Razak’s house that day and taken my daughter away, and she would still be alive today,” he said.

Hadi Azmi from Kuala Lumpur contributed to this report.