The father of Altantuya Shaariibuu, who was murdered in 2006 by two bodyguards of the detail for officials including former Malaysian premier Najib Razak, has petitioned the courts to order a further investigation into her death.
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Shaariibuu Setev, 76, has applied for a judicial review to compel Malaysian authorities to investigate the contents of a sworn affidavit made from death row in 2019 by one of the men convicted of killing the Mongolian woman, Shaariibuu’s lawyer, Sangeet Kaur Deo, said in a statement on Thursday in the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur.
In that affidavit, Azilah Hadri, one of two secret service policemen convicted of the 28-year-old woman’s murder, said that Najib gave the order for her to be killed. Najib has consistently denied any role in Altantuya’s death, was never charged, and no proof of his involvement has ever been established in court.
Representatives for Najib, Azilah and the Attorney General’s Chambers did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Azilah had his death sentence commuted to life imprisonment last year. He used the sworn affidavit to support his application, and the public prosecutor did not dispute its contents, Sangeet said in the statement.
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The hearing on the judicial review application will be held on September 29, Sangeet said separately by text.
If successful, the application would reopen an investigation into a murder that shocked Malaysia and left questions about the motive unresolved for almost two decades.