by Donplaypuks®
'MURDERED IN MALAYSIA:THE ALTANTUYA STORY' BY E.S. SHANKAR
THE COMPLETE A-Z OF THE ALTANTUYA MURDER. TO BUY THE BOOK, CLICK HERE
CHAPTER 1 – THE PLAYERS
The
golden rays of light first dimmed and then ebbed away forever from the
28-year old body of Altantuya Shaariibuu or Altantuya, a Mongolian
national, on an ill-fated night in October 2006. She was brutally and
inhumanely slain without the slightest compunction or sliver of remorse
on the part of her killers, deep in the jungles of Shah Alam city in the
west-coast state of Selangor, geographically situated adjacent to
Malaysia’s capital city of Kuala Lumpur. An extrovert and an extremely
beautiful young woman, she had a colourful reputation. She had harboured
ambitions of becoming a super star when she signed up in 2000 with a
modelling school in Paris, France, the haute couture capital of the
world. Altantuya was also a young translator whose fatal misfortune it
was to have been indirectly entangled in the Malaysian government’s
defence procurement programme and its often shady, convoluted and
labyrinthine, but always secret and highly classified contract dealings
amounting to tens of billions of ringgit. Rumours surfaced she had been
recruited by a foreign spy agency for a honeytrap sting operation.
Altantuya’s
disappearance may even have been dismissed and forgotten as one among
many uninvestigated, or investigated but unresolved missing-persons
report or as just another run-of-the-mill death, and possibly covered
up, were it not for several extraneous factors.
Altantuya – Murdered and Body Blown To Bits with Explosives
One,
Altantuya, whose father was a very prominent Mongolian, was gruesomely
blown to bits by explosives planted on her body! Were it not for the
hand of fate, as DNA testing had advanced, Altantuya’s murder may well
have never been discovered and her body identified with dead certainty.
Only her bone fragments and some tissue and hair were retrieved by
forensic experts who successfully matched her DNA with blood samples
obtained from her parents in Mongolia. Government pathologists certified
that the cause of her death as from ‘probable blast related injuries.’
Two,
a brace of police commando officers assigned as bodyguards to Malaysian
Prime Minister Najib (Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister at
that point in time) from the elite Royal Malaysian Police Unit Tindakan
Khas (UTK) or Special Action Unit involved in security, special
operations and counter terrorism, were charged with Altantuya’s murder.
Three,
deeply implicated in Altantuya’s murder was a very prominent Porsche
911-driving Malaysian, a so-called defence strategist, Abdul Razak bin
Abdullah Malim Baginda, a Malay Muslim who owned and headed the
Malaysian Strategic Research Institute (MSRI). Baginda was charged with
abetment of murder. Though married, Baginda had, by his own admission
committed khalwat, by having an affair lasting eight months with
Altantuya. He claimed he was subsequently blackmailed by her. He was one
of Najib’s closest friends and policy advisers. Baginda moved freely
and in chummy familiarity with the top brass in the corridors of power
in government, in particular the Ministry of Defence and the armed
forces.
He
was reputed to be the prime mover in the eventual signing of a contract
between the Malaysian Navy and a French company, Direction des
Constructions Navales Services S.A. (DCNS), a majority French
government-owned company, for purchase of two Scorpene
search-and-destroy submarines armed with exocet missiles, estimated to
cost RM7.5 billion (US$2.3 billion or €1.5 billion) in total.
That
deal earned Baginda’s company, Perimekar Sdn. Bhd., a company with no
prior experience whatsoever in submarine technology, training or
maintenance, a much disputed and staggering “co-ordination and support
services” fee of RM 575 million (US$180 million or €115 million). The
fee was paid in 2007 by Armaris, a wholly owned subsidiary of DCNS,
which, French lawyers investigating the G-to-G deal, feel clearly
implied that the initial contract amount had been illegally inflated,
and that the cost was passed on to the Malaysian taxpayer. Perimekar’s
board of directors included ex-magistrate Madam Mazlinda Makhzan,
Baginda’s wife.
Baginda,
who obtained his PhD (doctorate) in International Relations from
Trinity College, Oxford University, UK in 2009, was also accused of
selling state secrets and classified documents to DCNS for RM142 million
(US$44 million or €36 million), an act that would be considered
treasonous in any country. This transaction was apparently completed
through Terasasi (Hong Kong) Limited, an off-shore based company
controlled by Baginda and in which Baginda’s father, Abdullah Malim
Baginda, was also a director.
Prime Minister Najib and Wife Rosmah Accused
Four,
never before in the history of any nation have allegations of murder,
adultery, corruption and attempts to pervert the course of justice been
nailed so firmly and directly to the doors of its prime minister and his
wife, as they were against Dato Seri Haji Mohammad Najib bin Tun Haji
Razak and his wife Datin Seri Rosmah binti Mansor, both Malay Muslims.
The stunning accusations and revelations surfaced through two Statutory
Declarations (SD) sworn in front of, and witnessed by legally appointed
Commissioners of Oaths.
The
first SD implicating Najib’s wife Rosmah in Altantuya’s killing, was
made by arguably Malaysia’s most widely read, controversial and famous
blogger, Raja Petra Bin Raja Kamarudin (of ‘Malaysia Today’ fame), more
popularly known as RPK. As a result, RPK was arrested and detained under
the Internal Security Act and also charged under the Sedition Act with
criminal defamation. Eventually, this forced RPK to flee Malaysian
shores for exile in Manchester, United Kingdom (UK), where he resides
and continues to blog from.
The
other highly revealing SD, replete with salacious detail after
salacious detail, including Najib’s alleged lurid sexual involvement
with Altantuya (a preference for anal intercourse), was tendered by a
private detective, Balasubramaniam Perumal, universally known as PI
Bala.
On
4th January 2013, a third source of allegations appeared in a satirical
novel ‘The Black Rose 1.0’ or ‘Bijan’s Bane’ written by one ‘Spirit of
Altantuya’s’ said to be the pseudonym of Malaysian businessman Deepak
Jaikishan Rewachand, who claimed to count
Najib and Rosmah as “close friends”, and Rosmah as “sister”. ‘Bijan’
read backwards is Najib! At the time of Altantuya’s killing, Najib was
Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia as well as its Minister of Defence. In
March 2009, Opposition Member of Parliament (MP) Gobind Singh of the
Democratic Action Party (DAP) was suspended for a year from Parliament
with complete loss of salary and perks, for calling Najib a murderer
during a parliamentary session.
Five,
shortly before the Altantuya trial began on 19 June 2007, a Deputy
Public Prosecutor from the Attorney-General (AG) of Malaysia’s chambers
made a startling statement in court that three, and only three persons,
were involved in Altantuya’s murder. Coupled with the fact that the
judge (jury trials were statutorily proscribed in 1995) and the
government’s prosecution team (as well as defence lawyers) were switched
on the flimsiest of excuses and pretexts before the trial proper
commenced in June 2007, Chief Justice of Malaysia Ahmad Fairuz bin
Sheikh Abdul Halim and the AG gave credence to the widespread public
belief that this was a going to be a show trial whose verdict had
already been pre-determined,in connivance with the-powers-that-be.
Fairuz was forced into retirement in November 2007 after promoting the
novel idea that English common law should be replaced with Islamic
Syariah Law in secular Malaysia. In 2008, a Royal Commission of Inquiry
hearing into the illegal fixing of appointment of judges recommended
that Fairuz, one of six persons which included another former Chief
Justice, Eusoff Chin, and former prime minister Mahathir bin Mohamad, be
prosecuted for his role in undermining the integrity of the judiciary
and bringing it into disrepute.
Six,
an acquaintance of mine, blogger Din Merican, a man of impeccable
credentials and integrity, and Raja Petra Bin Raja Kamarudin or RPK,
also played their part. They, and others, set in motion a written
declaration that made an appeal to the nation’s collective conscience
and moral duty that might otherwise not have been triggered off. The
Altantuya murder story went viral and global.
In his now famous ‘Let’s Send Altantuya’s Murderers To Hell’ blog post of 25 April 2008, read by millions, RPK wrote:
“I
had dinner with a few friends last night and on the way to the
restaurant another good friend, Din Merican, phoned to fill me in on the
details of Dr. Setev Shaariibuu’s press conference that was held
earlier that day.
I
listened as Din filled me in on what transpired and could not help but
blurt out, “I am a father of two daughters. I can imagine what
Shaariibuu must be feeling. Fucking assholess!”
“I have three daughters,” Din responded. “These people are animals, bloody animals. Fuck them! Fuck them!”
This
is what I would call ‘at a loss for words’ — and when you just have to
say something but no words can fully describe how you feel, then ‘fuck’
is the only word you can use which will console you enough and make you
feel you have expressed your anger and disgust in a most ‘appropriate’
manner.
…I
found it very difficult to hold back my tears as Din continued with his
narration of what Dr Shaariibuu said at his press conference.
“Let’s
bring these bastards down,” I told Din. “Let’s launch a ‘Justice for
Altanatuya: restore Malaysia’s dignity’ campaign’ or something like
that. These assholes must be sent to hell.”
Seven,
a complaint by SUARAM or ‘Suara Rakyat Malaysia’ (‘Voice of the
Malaysian People’), a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) dedicated to
human rights, has resulted in a criminal investigation and inquiry in
the courts in France, over allegations of massive corruption
and bribes in relation to the purchase of the Scorpene submarines by
the Malaysian Navy. SUARAM’s French lawyers believe that the
“co-ordination and support services fee” of RM 575 million (US$180
million or €115 million) paid to Perimekar was a sham arrangement to
disguise, conceal and facilitate highly illegal kickbacks to various
parties in Malaysia and France.
As
a signatory to the United Nations Convention Against Corruption
(UNCAC), the Malaysian government is duty and honour bound to co-operate
and assist the French courts in their inquiry. Included in SUARAM’s
list of witnesses in the French inquiry are Najib, ex-Defence Minister
Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and Baginda who could all face arrest if they ignore
the French court summons. UNCAC rules also allow recovery of assets
acquired from spending of corrupt moneys. Under French law, anyone
convicted of bribery could face up to ten years in prison and/or a
maximum fine of RM750,000 (US$235,000 or €150,000). Judge Roger Le Loire
who is heading the French inquiry also headed the earlier bribery
inquiry on the sale of three Agosta-class submarines to Pakistan where
fourteen persons were killed and forty others injured in a terrorist
car-bomb attack. DCNS/Thales was also fined RM3 billion (US$985 million
or €630 million) for corruption over sales of six frigates to the Taiwan
Navy. In that scandal, five people involved in the contract
negotiations, dealings and investigations were found dead under
suspicious circumstances. Investigations are on-going into DCNS’
submarines contracts with the Indian Navy.
Eight,
shockingly, till today the Malaysian police and the Attorney-General
(AG) have not identified, arrested, charged and prosecuted anyone else
with conspiracy to murder Altantuya. This is despite one of the UTK cops
having stated in a written confession to the police,
without identifying that person, that he had been offered between
RM50,000 to RM100,000 (US$16,000-32,000) to carry out Altantuya’s
execution. Neither have successive Ministers of Home Affairs ordered
successive Inspector-Generals of Police to do their job and bring to
book this person, nor have successive Prime Ministers including Najib or
his Cabinet colleagues representing various ethnic-based coalition
political parties, demanded that the Minister of Home Affairs, Police
and AG either carry out their statutory duties and responsibilities, or
be relieved of their positions and be charged with gross dereliction of
duty. On 9 September 2013, when asked if the police would be carrying
out a fresh probe into the 2006 murder of Altantuya, Tan Sri Khalid Abu
Bakar, the Inspector-General of Police was quoted as saying:
“There
is no need for the police to carry out new investigations into the
murder of Mongolian Altantuya Shaariibuu . The Court of Appeal’s recent
acquittal of two former police commandos over Altantuya’s murder was a
court decision that should be respected. The matter is still on-going in
the courts. That is the court’s findings, so everybody should respect
it. An appeal against the Court of Appeal’s decision is still
available.”
Nine,
a new name that emerged in the Scorpene submarines corruption scandal
in 2013 was Jasbir Singh Chahl, a Malaysian Punjabi Sikh and a
restaurateur. He claimed to be the original Malaysian architect of the
submarines deal with DCNS/Thales. He disclosed in a press interview that
he had been working with Thales in Malaysia prior to 2000. Jasbir
exited the scene in 2002 when his RM50 million (US$16 million) lawsuit
against Baginda was settled out of court for an undisclosed sum of
money.
Ten,
in March 2013, the body of 64-year old Olivier Metzner, a criminal law
specialist lawyer representing DCNS in the Malaysian Scorpene submarines
corruption inquiry in France, was found floating in the Brittany Sea,
north west of France, near his private island in Brittany. A suicide
note was found at his residence.
I
dare say that such a case as this has never materialised in any other
country in modern times. It calls into serious question the supposedly
immutable separation of powers among the various arms of government in
Malaysia, i.e. the legislative, the executive and the judiciary. SUARAM
which claims it is being harassed by the government of Najib , is now
being investigated by the government via Bank Negara, Malaysia’s central
bank (similar to the USA Federal Reserve) and the Registrar of
Societies allegedly for raising funds for the French inquiry, while
operating as an unregistered society. In 2013, Najib, going against the
grain, appointed ex-Inspector-General of Police, Tan Sri Ismail Omar as
Malaysia’s new ambassador to France, over the heads of many long-serving
career diplomats at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
My debut satire/fiction novel titled ‘Tiger Isle: A Government of Thieves’ (CLICK HERE) and (HERE) was
published in 2012. It’s theme was about endemic corruption, economic
looting and plundering and even murder by so-called elected and
democratic, but actually repressive and virtually totalitarian regimes
in South East Asia. Are we witnessing the emergence of a Malaysia going
past its point of no return and descending to dictatorship, gangsterism
and thuggery as rule of law? The Altantuya murder belongs right up there
with the ‘Dreyfus Affair’, Émile Zola and his 1898 ‘J’accuse!’ in which
he railed against the French government’s
anti-Semitic and unlawful conspiracy against Alfred Dreyfus, a French
artillery captain, sentenced after a court martial for spying, to life
imprisonment at the dreaded penal colony of Devils Island located off
the French Guiana coast in South America.
Nothing
less than Justice itself is on trial in Malaysia as Malaysians search
for the country’s soul. Those who think they have got away with murder,
and looting and plundering the nations coffers had better think again;
it’s not quite over yet.
The
bone and spine-chilling details of Altantuya’s execution, of the
investigation, trial, verdict and appeal, will shock and amaze everyone
at how this could have happened in Malaysia in the 21st century in a
supposedly progressive nation, where leaders from the dominant ruling
party, whose membership is restricted to Malays only, the United Malay
National Organization (UMNO), claim Malaysia is a moderate Islamic
nation.
An Australian newspaper says Prime Minister
Datuk Seri Najib Razak risks becoming an 'international pariah' because of the
scandals involving the RM2.6 billion in his personal bank accounts, and the
debt-ridden 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB). – The Malaysian Insider pic,
September 27, 2015.Datuk Seri Najib Razak's alleged involvement in a financial
scandal could impact ties with Australia,
the Sydney Morning Herald (SMH) reported.
