The father of murdered Mongolian translator/model Altantuya Shaariibuu will be meeting with Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad tomorrow, according to their family lawyer.
Ramkarpal Singh has said that Dr Setev Shaariibuu will go to Putrajaya tomorrow for a scheduled 5pm face to face with the PM after meeting with Malaysia’s new Attorney General Tommy Thomas today at 3pm.
Altantuya’s grief-stricken father is reportedly searching for answers as to why his daughter was murdered. He is said to be lobbying for the case be re-opened, despite that fact that Malaysia’s head of police announced last month that investigators see no reason to do so.
Dr Setev, along with many of those who have followed the case, are looking to understand the motives that propelled the two men convicted of the crime to shoot her, then blow up her body with military-grade explosives in a wooded area of Shah Alam 12 years ago.
Though Sirul Azhar Umar and Azilah Hadri, two prime ministerial bodyguards, were tried and convicted in 2009, no motive for the murder was ever established.
In recent years, international press investigations report that 28-year-old Altantuya was not only the alleged lover of Najib’s “close confidant” Abdul Razak Baginda, but that she was also allegedly pregnant.
Tracing the weeks leading up to her death, it is reported that she had been demanding money from Baginda to compensate for her work in brokering a deal to buy French submarines, of which Baginda is said to have benefited in the multi-millions via kickbacks.
Unable to contact Baginda directly after he refused to take her calls, she went to his house in October 2006. Minutes later, a van arrived at the scene, abducting the model and ultimately taking her to a Subang forest, where she was then murdered.
Sirul has maintained his innocence, saying he was only carrying out orders from superiors and that he was merely the driver to the scene of the crime.
While out on bail, Sirul fled to Australia in 2014, managing to gain access to the country that has issues letting in muddy boots, but apparently accepts convicted murderers.
He hid in Queensland, until authorities tracked him down following an Interpol-issued red alert. He’s been sitting in a Sydney detention center ever since, claiming to know more about the murder than has been said.
Australia will not extradite him as he faces the death penalty in Malaysia for the crime.
Since the fall of the Barisan Nasional government, the case has once again been making headlines, with The Guardian reporting earlier this month that Australia had brokered a deal with Malaysia to repatriate Sirul.
Prime Minister Mahathir was quick to shoot down such reports as egregious, stating obviously that the death penalty sentence was not commuted, thus Australia would not be making any moves to send him back.
What does this mean for a father simply looking for closure? Not much, as long as Sirul is in Australia, and the case stays shut.
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