THE RM100 million civil suit by murdered Mongolian translator Altantuya Shaariibuu’s family over her death will now see whether evidence in a Federal Court ruling can be used in a civil proceeding.

The family’s lawyers filed an application with the Shah Alam High Court to decide on the matter.

Ramkarpal Singh, the lead counsel in the suit, said the law is split on the matter.

“There is a grey area on whether criminal findings can be used in a civil proceeding.

“Some say you can while others say you cannot. The rationale is you have to prove the case (in the suit),” he told The Malaysian Insight.

The plaintiffs are Altantuya’s father Setev Shaariibuu, her mother Altantsetseg Sanjaa and her two sons.

The defendants in the suit are Altantuya’s convicted murderers former policemen Sirul Azhar Umar and Azilah Hadri, the Malaysian government, and political analyst Abdul Razak Baginda.

Sirul and Azilah were found guilty of her murder, and sentenced to death in 2015. Azilah is on death row at the Kajang prison while Sirul is held at an Australian immigration detention centre.

Razak, who was said to be in a relationship with Altantuya, was charged with abetment in the murder but he was freed without being told to enter defence years ago.

He is reportedly trying to get the plaintiffs in the civil suit to prove the facts of the murder that were already established in the criminal proceedings.

“We are trying to get around it. It would take years if we have to prove the facts again,” Ramkarpal said.

“For instance, it was already established previously that Sirul and Azilah had passed a toll booth at a certain time on the day of the crime. Do we have to call up the PLUS people to testify in court again? It doesn’t make sense.”

As a result of the plaintiffs’ application, the trial, set to commence from August 13, has been postponed.

The court has now set August 28 to hear the application under Order 14A of the Rules of Court 2012 to determine if criminal findings can be used for civil proceedings.

Ramkarpal said the postponement would also allow the plaintiffs to see what new information had turned up in the reopened investigation into Altantuya’s murder.

“We are in the process of getting more information. Anything new to the case will certainly be included in the civil proceedings,” he said.

Last month, Attorney-General Tommy Thomas and Setev met in Putrajaya over the reopening of the murder case.

Altantuya was shot and had her body blown up with C4 explosives in Shah Alam in 2006. The motive of her murder was never established. – July 13, 2018.