Court Orders Abdul Razak Baginda & Gov To Pay Altantuya’s Family RM9 Mil
The Shaariibuu family said Altantuya’s death caused distress and trauma, entitling them to be paid damages.
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The High Court ordered the government and political analyst Abdul Razak Baginda on 12 February to pay more than RM9 million to the family of the late Mongolian model Altantuya Shaariibuu.
Shah Alam High Court judicial commissioner M Sumathi ruled that the payments be made into the stakeholder account of Altantuya’s father Dr. Shaariibuu Setev’s solicitors within 30 days.
The Shaariibuu family’s lawyer, Sangeet Kaur Deo, said the court ordered both defendants to deposit RM4,702,054.80 (half of the total judgement sum plus interest to date) including interest and costs of RM25,000 to the law firm Karpal Singh & Co within 30 days starting today, pending the disposal of the appeal at the Court of Appeal.
The appeals are scheduled to be heard on 19 May.
Altantuya’s parents, Dr. Shaariibuu Setev and Altantsetseg Sanjaa, and their grandson, Mugunshagai Bayarjargal, as plaintiffs, filed a RM100 million suit on 4 June 2007.
They named two former members of the Special Action Unit (UTK), Chief Inspector Azilah Hadri and Corporal Sirul Azhar Umar, as well as Abdul Razak and the Malaysian government as defendants.
On 16 December 2024, Judge Datuk Vazeer Alam Mydin Meera, the current Judge of the Court of Appeal, allowed the suit and ordered the defendants to jointly pay general, severe, and exemplary damages amounting to RM5 million to the family.
The Shariibuu family said Altantuya’s death caused them mental shock and psychological trauma which entitled them to exemplary and severe damages.
What happened to Azilah and Sirul?
Altantuya, 28, was murdered on 18 October 2006. Investigations revealed that her body was blown up using C4 explosives in a jungle in Puncak Alam on the outskirts of Shah Alam, Selangor.
Azilah and Sirul were found guilty and sentenced to death for Altantuya’s murder in 2009. The convictions were overturned by the Court of Appeal in 2013 but was restored by the Federal Court in 2015.
Last year, the Federal Court commuted Azilah’s death sentence and imposed a 40-year sentence on him. The apex court also ordered Azilah to receive 12 strokes of the rotan.
Meanwhile, Sirul fled to Australia before the final verdict was announced and was detained for overstaying a tourist visa. He’s currently living in Australia after his release from detention in 2023.
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