Malaysia govt, ex-cops to pay $1mn to family of murdered Mongolian model
Bangkok, Dec 16 (EFE) A Malaysian court on Friday ordered the government and three individuals to pay more than $1 million to the family of Mongolian model Altantuya Shaariibuu, who was murdered in 2006.
The Shah Alam High Court allowed the lawsuit by Altantuya’s parents and brother, alleging that they suffered mental shock and psychological trauma after the model’s death.
They sought an estimated compensation of 5 million ringgit (about $1.13 million).
The family filed the lawsuit against former police officers Azilah Hadri and Sirul Azhar Umar, former political analyst Abdul Razak Baginda and the Malaysian government.
“I find the plaintiffs have successfully established their case against the first,” the judge said.
“(The government), as the employer, is vicariously liable for the unlawful actions of the first and second defendants, which were carried out in the capacities of police officers.”
The judge indicated that the police officers, who only knew the victim through Razak’s mediation, “brutally” murdered the model.
Altantuya was acting as an interpreter in negotiations for the sale of two Spanish-French-made Scorpene submarines.
She was murdered on Oct.18, 2006, and her body was blown up in pieces by military-grade explosives in a forest outside Kuala Lumpur.
The two cops were special agents in charge of protecting the then-Defense Minister Najib Razak, who became prime minister between 2009-2018.
According to some witnesses, the interpreter was demanding a part of the bribe she allegedly paid during the sale of the two submarines.
According to the murder investigation, a taxi driver wrote down the license plates of the two policemen’s vehicles when they kidnapped Altantuya in front of Razak Baginda’s home in the capital.
The former adviser was charged at first but acquitted in 2008. He has moved to England with his wife and his children. EFE
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