KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 16 — The High Court today allowed the father of the late Altantuya Shaariibuu to initiate judicial review proceedings to compel the police to investigate an additional affidavit and statutory declaration (SD) made by a former police officer involved in the murder of the Mongolian model.
Judge Datuk Aliza Sulaiman granted the leave after Senior Federal Counsel Nurhafizza Azizan informed the court that the Attorney-General did not object to the application filed by Dr Shaariibuu Setev to commence the judicial review.
“The court has fixed Oct 31 for case management,” Judge Aliza said during the proceedings, which were also attended by lawyer Sangeet Kaur Deo, representing Altantuya’s family.
Shaariibuu had filed the application on Aug 25, naming the Inspector-General of Police, the Director of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), the Royal Malaysia Police, the Attorney-General and the Government of Malaysia as respondents.
In his application, Shaariibuu sought a declaration that the decision of all respondents in failing to inform him of the latest status of the investigation conducted in 2019 by Bukit Aman’s CID into the contents of the additional affidavit and SD affirmed by former police officer Azilah Hadri was unlawful.
Azilah Hadri’s additional affidavit dated Sept 24, 2024, and SD dated Oct 17, 2019, were used by the former police officer to support his application for a review of his death sentence at the Federal Court on Oct 10, 2024.
Both documents, among others, contained Azilah’s statement that he received orders from ‘higher authorities’ to carry out a ‘covert operation’ to ‘kill and dispose of the deceased’.
According to Shaariibuu, as the applicant, if the investigation into the affidavit and statutory declaration is still ongoing, he is seeking a mandamus order for the investigation to be completed within one month from the date of the court order.
In addition, he is seeking another mandamus order for all respondents to provide a detailed update on the current status of the investigation conducted by the second respondent (Bukit Aman CID) into the contents of both documents within seven days from the date of the court’s decision.
Shaariibuu further stated that if the respondents decide to classify the investigation papers as ‘No Further Action’, he wants to be informed of the reasons for such a decision.
On Oct 10, 2024, the Federal Court commuted Azilah Hadri’s death sentence to 40 years in prison and 12 strokes of the cane for the murder of Altantuya after allowing his review application. — Bernama
