Malaysia Crime Watch

16 February 2009
Shah Alam

Murder accused Corporal Sirul Azhar Umar’s lawyer, Kamarul Hisham Kamaruddin, had submitted to High Court judge Justice Mohd Zaki Md Yasin on Monday that his client requested for the High Court to acquit him of the charge or to declare a mistrial so that three men, including political analyst Abdul Razak Baginda, have to be retried.

Kamarul explained that as the prosecution was unable to provide complete evidence on the murder and put all the blame on Azhar while disposing of all physical evidence while there is no motive found for Azhar to kill Altantuya.

He asked for the case to be retried as DSP Musa Mohd Safri was not called to give his evidence as a material witness. He believed that DSP Musa would have provided evidence to help determine the guilt of the three accused. For instance, Kamarul said that there was significant amount of communication between DSP Musa and Razak which has not been brought to light. On 17 October 2006, there were 11 short messages sent between the two.

Murder accused Chief Inspector Azilah Hadri’s lawyer, Datuk Hazman Ahmad, submitted to the judge that Azilah had no intention to kill Altantuya. He stated that there is no evidence that Azilah was ordered by Razak to murder her and that he was at the crime scene.

The submissions will continue on Tuesday.

The Star Online – Altantuya case: Sirul asks for mistrial (Updated)
<URL:http://www.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/2/16/nation/20090216112628&sec=nation>

MCW – Altantuya Murder Trial: Azhar Was “Scapegoat”
<URL:http://malaysiacrimewatch.lokety.com/altantuya-murder-trial-azhar-was-scapegoat/>

Technorati Tags: malaysia crime, malaysia, crime, shah alam, murder, trial, death, altantuya, shaariibuu, altantuya shaariibuu, abdul razak baginda, baginda, azilah hadri, sirul azhar

14 February 2009
Kuala Lumpur

Kuala Lumpur narcotics police scored their biggest drug bust in three years with the arrest of three men and seizure of RM1.8 million worth of heroin.

Two African men, aged 25 and 34 years, were remanded in a taxi at the Pantai Dalam toll on Thursday at 4:20pm. Police found two empty luggage bags which they later found hidden compartments inside when they brought the suspects to the police station for investigations. Four packages wrapped in aluminium foil contained 3kg of high-grade heroin.

Working on the suspects’ information, police proceeded to raid the suspects’ condominium apartment in Bandar Sunway at 7pm and arrested the third man from Tanzania. Two packages of heroin and 142 heroin capsules were also seized from the apartment. It is believed that the capsules are swallowed by drug traffickers.

In total, police recovered 8.6kg of high-grade heroin, which was meant for distribution overseas, such as Shenzen, China, which the Tanzanian man was scheduled to fly to.

The suspects are believed to be students in a local college here. They are being investigated under Section 39(b) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952 which carries the mandatory death sentence.

The Star Online – KL cops cripple international drug ring
<URL:http://www.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/2/14/nation/3267815&sec=nation>

Technorati Tags: malaysia crime, malaysia, crime, kuala lumpur, bandar sunway, drug, heroin, syndicate, african, pantai dalam, dangerous drugs act

4 February 2009
Shah Alam

36-year-old murder accused Corporal Sirul Azhar Umar hit a solemn note when he said in court yesterday that he was made a “scapegoat by parties who were not in court”. He was reading a 15-page statement over 55 minutes which described the events leading up to the death of Mongolian Altantuya Shaariibuu.

While Azhar admitted to accompanying co-accused Chief Inspector Azilah Hadri to look for Altantuya at a house in Bukit Damansara and at Hotel Malaya, he denied giving any information on the case to the police. He also emphasized to the High Court judge Justice Mohd Zaki Md Yasin that he did not know Altantuya and political analyst Abdul Razak Baginda and had no dealings with either of them.

Razak was charged with abetting the two accused in the murder but was released by the High Court last October without his defence being called.

Azhar suggested that during the preceding trial hearings, he observed that several main prosecution witnesses, especially those from the serious crime division, had been giving inaccurate statements.

Earlier, Azhar described that on 18 October 2006, he had followed Azilah to locate Hotel Malaya in Kuala Lumpur where Altantuya was staying. When they were heading to Bukit Damansara, Azhar said Azilah explained that DSP Musa Mohd Safri had informed him that DSP Musa’s friend was having a “woman problem”. He said they were asked to patrol the friend’s house in Damansara.

All this time, Azhar said Azilah had never revealed the identities of DSP Musa’s friend, the “Chinese man and woman”, who were supposedly harassing DSP Musa’s friend.

On 31 October 2006, Azhar said he was assigned to escort the Prime Minister to Pakistan. He had left his jeep in the Bukit Aman police headquarters and his car keys in his office. After cleaning his jeep, he left a pair of red slippers packed in a box and place it in the jeep’s boot. He claimed that he has never seen a white pair of slippers shown in a photograph tendered to court.

In Islamabad, Pakistan, on 5 November 2006, Azilah said he was asked to go to a room to prepare food for a Datuk and had given his pistol to a colleague who was about to go on his shift. While he was resting in the room, Azilah saw ACP Mastor and two Special Action Squad officers entering. Mastor had told Azilah he had to return to Malaysia because his ex-wife had lodged a police report against him.

The next day, Azilah flew back to Malaysia with the three officers and was brought to the city police contingent for questioning and remanding. Soon after, he said he was brought to a senior police official’s office in handcuffs where he was told to speak the truth. Lastly, he was taken to his own house and had his photographs taken while holding several items.

Judge Mohd Zaki then set 16 February 2009 for submissions after the defence team closed their case on Wednesday.

The Star Online – Altantuya case: Sirul says he is a scapegoat
<URL:http://www.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/2/4/nation/20090204144859&sec=nation>

New Straits Times Online – Altantuya Murder Trial: I’ve been made a scapegoat, says Sirul
<URL:http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Thursday/National/2471422/Article/index_html>

MCW – Altantuya Murder Trial: Witness Statement Application Rejected
<URL:http://malaysiacrimewatch.lokety.com/altantuya-murder-trial-witness-statement-application-rejected/>

Technorati Tags: malaysia crime, malaysia, crime, shah alam, murder, trial, death, altantuya, shaariibuu, altantuya shaariibuu, abdul razak baginda, baginda, azilah hadri, sirul azhar