COMMENT Although both Azilah Hadri and Sirul Azhar Umar have been sentenced by the apex court to hang for their crime, the case of Altantuya Shaariibuu’s death is far from being solved.

There are many questions that have been left unanswered, and now with the disappearance of Sirul, there are more questions arising.

Understandably, the father of the murdered Mongolian model, Setev Shaariibuu is still asking, “Why was my daughter killed?” This is still on the minds of many Malaysians who have been following the case.

In any criminal investigation, the motive behind the murder has to be established and presented in court.

In the case of Altantuya’s murder, which has gone all the way to the Federal Court, this is largely still a mystery. We know who, what, where and how, but the questions to why she was killed have yet to be answered.

The source of the C4 explosives used by the two operatives, and how the explosives were smuggled out of the military depot, have yet to be established. To date, no one has been criminalised for the stolen C4, especially if there was negligence involved.

All that we know, is that Altantuya was involved with a special negotiation team, which included former TV3 broadcast journalist Abdul Razak Baginda, who was a confidante of Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak.

Najib was the then defence minister, who had also been involved in the controversial purchase of two Scorpene submarines from France.

Razak Baginda, who probably holds the answers why the Mongolian model was murdered, was unceremoniously released after he was acquitted by the High Court, even before the trial ended. He has since gone for “further studies” in the UK.

Even private investigator P Balasubramaniam - who was hired by Razak Baginda - has gone to the other world, only leaving behind what were two contradictory statutory declarations.

That the two police personnel were merely “operatives”, and they were supposed to do as instructed by their superior - without questions - makes it harder to understand why their immediate superior, DSP Musa Safri (Najib’s aide) was never called as a witness during the trial.

In the name of justice

According to Setev’s lawyers, both Najib and Musa are potential witnesses in the coming civil suit.

In the name of justice, the question as to why Altantuya was murdered, has to be answered.

Sirul’s disappearance, and now claiming that he did not have enough money to return to Malaysia, is something unpalatable in this day and age. Sirul is said to have left for Australia two months ago.

Try doing that the next time you travel to Australia by purchasing a one-way ticket, and see if the Australian immigration would allow you to enter. It is hard to believe that Sirul had no return ticket when he landed in Australia.

Why and how Sirul entered Australia on a one-way ticket raises more questions. Was he given any special concession by the Australian authorities? Is he applying for asylum?

Now that the warrant of arrest has been issued, if Sirul cannot afford to buy his ticket home, the Australian government has the power to deport him back to Malaysia.

The Malaysian government would have to alert Interpol and - after being arrested - apply for his deportation, since Sirul has been found guilty by the apex court. There are no two ways about it.

It is time that the police release the photographs of Sirul - who is now a wanted man - and that of Azilah. Netizens are saying that since the case is now over and both operatives have been found guilty, there is indeed no reason why their photographs cannot be released by the authorities.

The civil suit brought by Setev will hopefully bring out the truth of the case.


STEPHEN NG is an ordinary citizen with an avid interest in following political developments in the country since 2008.