A RELATIVE of Altantuya Shaariibuu told the court today that the Mongolian model turned translator had shown her a photo of herself with her lover Abdul Razak Baginda and the Malaysian deputy prime minister who also went by the name Razak.

Burmaa Oyunchimeg , 37, first cousin to Altantuya, was testifying as first witness in the family’s RM100 million civil lawsuit against the Malaysian government.

She said back in Mongolia, Altantuya had shown her a photo of a trip to Paris with Razak, whom Altantuya had identified as her boyfriend. The Paris trip took place before Oyunchimeg met with Altantuya and Razak in Singapore in March 2005.

“I saw a picture of three people, two men and Altantuya. I asked her who they were and she said one was the deputy prime minister and the other was Razak who worked with him and did business together.

“I asked if they were both brothers because of the same name.

“She said no but they were best friends, business partners and worked together,” Oyunchimeg said at the Shah Alam court in Selangor, today.

Former prime minister Najib Razak was deputy prime minister from 2004 to 2009. Razak was Najib’s political advisor.

Oyunchimeg told the court she first met Razak in November 2004 when he and Altantuya visited her while she was living in Hong Kong.

Oyunchimeg also met Razak in Shanghai in January 2005, before the Singapore meet two months later. She said he had paid for all of her and Altantuya’s expenses on both trips. This included flight tickets, accommodation, meals and shopping money.

That was the last time Oyunchimeg said she met Razak, although they kept in touch via text messages.

The supposedly same photograph that Oyunchimeg said she said was produced in court today, but Oyunchimeg said it was not Altantuya in the photo.

“I want to say that it is exactly the picture she showed me but the girl in this copy is not Altantuya. The one I saw had her in it,” she said.

Lawyer Ramkarpal Singh, who is representing Altantuya’s family, said he was unable to speak on the matter of the photograph.

“We are not at liberty to go into all that because this is her evidence and we can’t answer for her behalf.

“If there are any questions that might arise as a result of what she said today, they can be raised in court and she will be the person to answer that,” he said at the end of the hearing.

Oyunchimeg said in 2006, Razak had sent her an SMS saying he did not want to see Altantuya again but she had not replied and had called her cousin instead. Altantuya told her it was a misunderstanding and told her to not reply to Razak.

She said she last contacted the former political analyst when she learned of her cousin’s disappearance in October the same year.

“Yes I called him several times but he never answered. I also sent him messages but he did not reply,” she said.

The hearing will resume tomorrow.

Altantuya’s father Shaariibuu Setev allege there was a conspiracy to murder Altantuya. The family is seeking damages and dependency claims in the suit, which was filed in 2007.

Fragments of the former model’s bones were found in Puncak Alam, Shah Alam, in October 2006. Police later ascertained her body was blown up with C4 explosives.

Razak was charged with the murder but was acquitted in October 2008 while police chief inspector Azilah Hadri and corporal Sirul Azhar Umar were convicted of the murder the following year. 

Azilah is on death row in Kajang prison while Sirul is in Australia. Malaysian authorities have applied to have him extradited. – January 23, 2019.