DR Shaariibuu Setev, the father of Mongolian Altantuya Shaariibuu, told the Shah Alam High Court  he had seen the picture of his murdered daughter posing with two men that was produced in court.

Shaariibuu, 69, who is a part-time professor at the Mongolian National University, became agitated when he was repeatedly questioned by senior federal counsel Norina Bahadun about the picture of his daughter with the two men, which was said to have been altered.

He asked why the lawyer kept harping on the picture, which he said he had only seen once.

“You all are asking me the same question. Why not you call the people in the picture and ask them?,” he said in response to Norina, who is counsel for the Malaysian government.

Shaariibuu was testifying at the hearing of his RM100 million suit filed against the Malaysian government, two former policemen Azilah Hadri and Sirul Azhar Umar, and Abdul Razak Baginda.

Earlier, Norina suggested to Shaariibuu that Altantuya never showed him the picture.

Shaariibuu also disagreed with Norina’s suggestion that the picture never existed.

He said Altantuya had shown him the picture when she came to his office at the Mongolian National University. He said she took out the 8 x 12cm picture from her handbag. 

When asked by his counsel Ramkarpal Singh about Altantuya’s purpose for coming Malaysia, Shaariibuu said his daughter only showed him the picture.

“I was only shown the picture once. If I had known the importance of the picture, I am sure to have kept it then. Too many facts and not only the picture,” he replied.

To a question from counsel Manjeet Singh Dhillon, who was acting for Razak, Shaariibuu said the police did not show him the picture when he was testifying to them.

He explained that he only saw the picture once when it was shown by Altantuya but he could not remember fully. 

Shaariibuu also told the High Court that the police did not inform him on who allegedly altered the photo of the trio. 

Shaariibuu and his wife Altantsetseg Sanjaa and their two grandsons, Mungunshagai Bayarjargal and Altanshagai Munkhtulga, filed the RM100 million suit on June 4, 2007.

In the statement of claim, the family alleged that Altantuya’s death had caused them mental shock and psychological trauma, entitling them to be compensated with exemplary and aggravated damages.

The trial before Judge Vazeer Alam Mydin Meera continues next Monday. – Bernama, May 6, 2019.