The family of a Mongolian interpreter allegedly murdered by Malaysian police is suing the government just as a criminal trial in the case gets underway.
The family of 28-year-old Altantuya Shaariibuu, whose body parts were found in a jungle clearing outside Kuala Lumpur last year, sued the Malaysian government, two police officers and a political analyst for 100 million ringgit ($29 million) in a June 6 civil suit.
"The outcome of the criminal trial doesn't bind the civil case,'' Karpal Singh, the family's lawyer, said in a phone interview. In ``the O.J. Simpson case, the criminal case was thrown out, but the family succeeded in the civil case.''
Abdul Razak Baginda, a political analyst who has worked for Malaysia Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak, is charged in the criminal case of abetting the murder of Altantuya, while the two officers are accused of killing her. Abdul Razak, who is married, has said in an affidavit that Altantuya had been blackmailing him over their relationship.
It's a "high-profile case,'' said Ramon Navaratnam, president of Transparency International Malaysia. "Nobody should be seen to be beyond the law, or above the law.''
Abdul Razak abetted Chief Inspector Azilah Hadri and Corporal Sirul Azhar Umar on Oct. 18 last year in the murder, according to criminal charges in a trial that began yesterday. The two officers shot Altantuya dead on Oct. 19 or Oct. 20 and blew up her body with plastic explosives, the civil suit claims.
Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has pledged there will be no cover-up in the trial.
Blackmail Attempt
Abdul Razak, 47, pleaded not guilty. He faces the death penalty if convicted. The head of the Kuala Lumpur-based Malaysian Strategic Research Center said in a Jan. 4 statement that he met Altantuya in locations including France, Hong Kong, Singapore and Shanghai.
Her requests for financial help turned to blackmail, Abdul Razak said in his statement. He asked for police patrols around his home when Altantuya traveled to Malaysia to see him, he said.
Azilah Hadri, one of the two officers charged with the murder, said he would ``assist'' Abdul Razak, the analyst said in his statement. He told police that nothing ``unwarranted'' should happen to her, according to the statement.
'Psychological Trauma'
The Malaysian government is liable because police officers are on duty 24 hours a day, Singh said in the June 11 interview. They should have been "vanguards in the defense of life,'' rather than "unmitigated perpetrators of death,'' the civil suit says.
The victim, raised in St. Petersburg and educated in Beijing, was fluent in Russian, English, Chinese and Japanese, according to the suit. Her four-year-old son needs 36,000 ringgit a year for treatment at a Chinese hospital, while her parents suffered "mental shock and psychological trauma,'' the suit says.
Kamarul Hisham, Sirul Azhar's lawyer, said he hadn't seen the civil suit and no papers had been served. Hazman Ahmad, Azilah Hadri's lawyer, also said he hadn't seen the writ and couldn't comment. K.K. Wong, Abdul Razak's lawyer, didn't return a message left at his office seeking comment on the civil suit.
In the Shah Alam, Malaysia high court yesterday, the prosecution opened their case and said they'll show the three accused are guilty, Hazman said.
"Whose Orders?''
"We want to know how she came by her death,'' Singh said from his office in Kuala Lumpur.
Anwar Ibrahim, Malaysia's deputy prime minister from 1991 to 1998, said on June 14 there's speculation some of the criminal charges in the case may be dropped.
"Malaysia's criminal justice system is under the scrutiny of the world,'' Anwar said in a statement. The country wants "genuine answers'' as to who ordered Altantuya killed, he said.
PEOPLE'S POWER
No comments:
Post a Comment