THE Shah Alam High Court today ordered the government and three others to pay RM5 million in damages to the family of Altantuya Shaariibuu, who was murdered in 2006.

Judge Vazeer Alam Mydin Meera made the decision in the case filed by Altantuya’s father, Dr Shaariibuu Setev, her mother Altantsetseg Sanjaa, and her son Mungunshagai Bayarjargal. 

The defendants named in the suit, filed in 2007, were the government, political analyst Abdul Razak Baginda, and former policemen Sirul Azhar Umar and Azilah Hadri.

The family claimed that the death of their relative, a model turned translator, had caused them mental shock and psychological trauma.

The judge ruled that the plaintiffs had successfully proven their claim against the four parties named in the suit.

Twenty-six witnesses for the plaintiffs, including Altantuya’s father and eldest son, testified in the case, which began in 2019. The government presented three witnesses, while Razak chose not to testify.

Altantuya was shot in 2006 in a forest in Puncak Alam and her body was later blown up with explosives.

In 2006, Razak was charged with abetting Azilah and Sirul in the murder of Altantuya, who was 28, but was acquitted by the high court in October 2008.

Azilah and Sirul were convicted of the murder in 2009. They both appealed and were acquitted in 2013. 

Two years later, however, the prosecution successfully appealed to the Federal Court to set aside the acquittal. Sirul and Azilah were once again found guilty and sentenced to death by hanging. Sirul has since fled to Australia, where he has sought asylum, while Azilah is on death row. – December 16, 2022.