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UPDATE
Powerful accused killer of a young Mongolian woman admits to
affair in court
A well-placed Malaysian political analyst facing charges of conspiring
to murder a young Mongolian woman has admitted to the High Court in Kuala Lumpur that he was
having an affair with the victim and giving her large sums of money.
Abdul Razak Baginda, 46, carried on a romance with Altantuya
Shaariibuu, 28, from the end of 2004 into the middle of 2005 in several
countries ‑ Hong Kong, China, Singapore, France and Malaysia – and gave the
woman US$10,000 on three occasions, the court was told Friday.
The admission was contained in a statement recorded by Abdul
Razak on 31 October last year and read out to the court by his lawyer to support
a formal bail application. The affidavit also directly implicated a police officer
who is charged with carrying out the slaying.
On Friday the court rejected the application and denied
bail. Abdul Razak had initially been granted bail in December, prompting a
public outcry and charges of political favoritism. The trial is scheduled to start in March 2008.
Shaariibuu was murdered between, 10pm on Oct 19 and 1am on
Oct 20, according to police. Her body was found in a patch of jungle near the Kuala Lumpur suburb of Shah Alam after she had been shot
twice and torn apart with hand grenades available only to Malaysia’s
security forces. Abdul Razak is accused of ordering the slaying.
Abdul Razak’s lawyer, Wong Kian Kheong, had submitted the affidavit
admitting to the affair to demonstrate that there was no reason to believe that
his client was guilty and therefore should be granted bail, according to the Bernama
News Agency.
Given Abdul Razak’s close ties to Deputy Prime Minister Najib
Abdul Razak and the alleged involvement of the elite police Special Action Unit
in the murder, the sordid case has drawn enormous interest in Malaysia.
Asked about the relationship, Wong told the court Razak was "Having
affair" with the beautiful victim.
According to the lawyer, at the end of 2005, Abdul Razak
stopped giving money to Shaaribuu and filed a police report on October 23 accusing
the woman of harassment.
Abdul Razak met Shaaribuu, whom he called Aminah, in 2004, the
affidavit said, and was told that she was a student looking for “side income.” Shaaribuu
allegedly told Abdul Razak she had financial problems owing to her mother's bout with cancer and he agreed to help
her.
“In a desperate situation, Abdul Razak succumbed to the
woman’s threats and gave her the money,” Wong told the court, adding that the payments
lasted for three years.
Meanwhile, other press reports said that Abdul Razak’s witness
statement claimed he was "not so stupid" as to kill the woman when he
could have complained to the police and had her deported.
Shaaribuu, who was a free-lance translator, came to Kuala Lumpur to look for
Abdul Razak, who is married, on October 6. She had claimed that he was father
of her son.
On Oct 19, Abdul Razak said in the statement, he was told by
a private investigator that Shaaribuu had gone to his house but nobody was at
home.
Following this, he said he called Chief Inspector Azilah
Hadri, 30, one of the two officers accused of the slaying, for help but told
him not to hurt the woman.
Later that night Azilah called Abdul Razak and told him, "tonight
encik (sir), you can sleep well," the affidavit said.
Azilah is charged along with Corporal Sirul Azhar Umar, with
murdering Shaaribuu.
The private investigator told Abdul Razak that Shaaribuu was
taken away in a car by three people outside his house.
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