DAP offers to help AGC convict ‘correct’ Altantuya killers -

The DAP legal bureau today offered its services to prosecutors in the high-profile murder of Mongolian Altantuya Shaariibuu, suggesting that an overworked Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) may have led to the acquittal of two former policemen previously convicted of the killing.

This comes as Segambut MP and bureau member Lim Lip Eng (picture) lodged a police report in Jinjang here over the Court of Appeal’s decision to free ex-police commandos Azilah Hadri and Sirul Azhar Umar of their conviction in 2009 of the gruesome murder.

“Give DAP legal bureau the fiat (authorisation order), we will make sure the correct person is prosecuted and convicted,” Lim said in a statement here.


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GENTING HIGHLANDS BUS CRASH: 'We're just glad bus didn't explode'

Investigators from the Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research (Miros) examining the wreckage of the bus that plunged into a ravine in Genting Highlands, killing 37 out of its 53 passengers.


A smoking worker nearly sets rescue crew aflame after wreckage started leaking fuel

RESCUE personnel had a close call when the stage bus they were lifting from Wednesday's crash site started leaking fuel.

About 100 firemen and police personnel at the scene reacted immediately to avert another catastrophe.

As soon as the wreckage was laid down on the road after being hauled up by a mammoth crane, diesel started flowing from the fuel tanks onto the road. Recovery personnel scrambled to put sand and earth as well as sawdust from their rescue vehicles to plug the tanks.

Before anyone could breathe a sigh of relief, a foreign worker ambled into view with a lit cigarette, risking a massive conflagration, just metres from the wreckage.

An alert policeman shouted at the foreign worker, who immediately stubbed out his cigarette.

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GENTING BUS TRAGEDY: 10 hospitalised victims reported stable

MIROS inspecting the bus that was lifted from the ravine at KM 3.6 Jalan Genting-Kuala Lumpur here in Genting Highlands.

Ten victims of the Wednesday's Genting bus tragedy who were hospitalised at the Selayang and Sungai Buloh hospitals were reported to be in stable condition.

Selayang Hospital director Dr Siti Zaleha Mohd Salleh said all eight victims admitted to the hospital, three locals, three Bangladeshis and two Indonesians, were recovering and that some of them might be discharged soon.

"Some have been placed in the orthopaedic and surgical wards, depending on the nature of their injuries.

"As of last night, all eight are still being treated at this hospital although we have been informed that some of the foreign nationals want to be transferred to private hospitals," she said when contacted by Bernama.

On Wednesday, three of those admitted were reported to be in critical condition and the rest semi-critical.


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PKR: Ex-cops should be re-tried for Altantuya murder, not acquitted

File photo of ex-policemen Azilah Hadri and Sirul Azhar Umar (heads covered). The Court of Appeal in Putrajaya on August 23, 2013 overturned their conviction of murdering Mongolian model Altantuya Shaariibuu.

The Court of Appeal should have ordered a retrial of the high-profile murder of Mongolian Altantuya Shariibuu, instead of acquitting two former police commandos previously convicted of her killing, PKR’s R. Sivarasa said today.

The Subang MP stressed that the appellate court is empowered to do so, especially when there was a number of key witnesses who were not called during the High Court trial that led to the duo’s conviction in 2009.

“Even if the Court of Appeal found defects in the manner the High Court judge analysed the evidence and in the conduct of the prosecution in presenting the case, the proper order to make in this case was to order a retrial and not grant an acquittal,” Sivarasa told reporters here.

“There is ample power under the law in Section 60 of the Courts Judicature Act 1964 to order a retrial which is regularly done in appeals.”

In a decision that stirred controversy yesterday, a three-man panel of the appellate court unanimously ruled that Azilah Hadri and Sirul Azhar Umar be allowed to appeal their charges.

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After mix-up over bus blacklisted cover up in fatal crash, MCA wants full probe

Blacklisted one day and cleared the next.

Inconsistent information surrounding one of Malaysia’s deadliest bus crashes requires a comprehensive investigation to ensure the victims and families are afforded the “truth and justice” due to them, MCA publicity chief Datuk Heng Seai Kie said today.

“As Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin has proposed to set up a special investigation committee to probe the cause of the accident, we urge the committee to leave no stone unturned as this issue has befallen several times already,” she said in a statement.

“The findings must be made public.”

On Thursday, a day after the ill-fated bus that plunged into a ravine on Wednesday and killed 37 people, English daily The Star reported that the vehicle was placed on a blacklist by the Road Transport Department (JPJ) prior to its journey to Genting Highlands.

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Winners and losers in the Altantuya saga

Altantuya Shaariibuu, the former Mongolian model whose life was ended brutally in Malaysia, but no one faces justice for the crime. August 24, 2013.


The murder of Mongolian model Altantuya Shaariibuu has had more twists and turns than a drive up Cameron Highlands, the latest being Friday's acquittal of policemen Azilah Hadri and Sirul Azhar Umar.

This has never been a simple criminal case, and today, The Malaysian Insider looks at those who have had their reputations hammered by the case and those who have been let off easy.



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ALTANTUYA MURDER CHARGE: Two ex-policemen acquitted by Court of Appeal

In this Feb 4, 2009 archive picture, Koperal Sirul Azhar Umar (second from right) and Chief Inspektor Azilah Hadri (left) being led out of Shah Alam High Court



Two former Bukit Aman Special Forces Unit officers today succeeded in their appeal against their conviction for the murder of Mongolian national Altantuyaa Shaariibuu seven years ago.

A three member bench led by Datuk Seri Mohamed Apandi Ali allowed the appeal in the Court of Appeal here this morning.

First appellant Chief Inspector Azilah Hadri's fiancee of seven years, Norazila Baharudin, 35, was in tears when she heard the verdict.

"For seven years, we have been through so much. It is not easy for one to stay in prison," she said when met outside the court today.

Smiling while wiping away tears, Norazila, who is an operation manager at a construction firm, said she is extremely grateful to the hard work and effort put in by her fiancee's counsel Datuk Hazman Ahmad.

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Pakatan MPs demand A-G explain after ex-cops walk from Altantuya murder

Surendran ( R )said that despite Altantuya’s death over six years ago, no one has been brought to book for the murder. Gobind ( L ) said the Attorney-General must explain why it failed to call material witnesses in support of its case.


The Attorney-General must explain how his prosecutors allowed two former police commandos to go free for the murder of Altantuya Shaariibuu after the Court of Appeal today reversed the 2009 conviction, Pakatan Rakyat lawmakers demanded.

The Court of Appeal overturned Azilah Hadri and Sirul Azhar Umar’s 2009 conviction of the high-profile murder of the Mongolian woman, reportedly ruling that there was a misdirection by the High Court judge in the trial then.

The DAP’s Gobind Singh Deo said Attorney-General Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail must now answer for the prosecution team’s failure to ensure a safe conviction.

“The A-G must explain why is it they failed to call material witnesses in support of their case in this prosecution,” Puchong MP said.

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Azilah, Sirul freed of Altantuya murder charge

Sirul Azhar's lawyer, Kamarul Hisham Kamaruddin, speaking to the media outside the court. The Malaysian Insider pic by Nazir Sufari, August 23, 2013.

Two former police commandos were freed today after the Court of Appeal allowed their appeal and overturned their conviction for the 2006 murder of Mongolian Altantuya Shaariibuu (pic).

A three-member bench comprising judges Datuk Seri Mohamed Apandi Ali, Datuk Linton Albert and Datuk Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat made the unanimous decision to allow the appeal by former chief inspector Azilah Hadri and former corporal Sirul Azhar Umar.

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Ahmad Zahid defamation suit against Rafizi struck off by High Court

Home Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi withdrew his defamation suit against opposition lawmaker Rafizi Ramli (pic) after the latter made an open declaration in court that he was satisfied with Zahid's (pic) explanation that he played no role in Boustead Holdings Berhad's transactions to acquire shares in Astacanggih Sdn Bhd and development land parcels from Awan Megah Sdn Bhd.

Rafizi, in the presence of Ahmad Zahid in court today, also stated that he was therefore withdrawing the wrongful statements on the issue of the home minister's involvement, which he had made in his blog on December 29.

Astacanggih is owned by controversial carpet dealer Deepak Jaikishan while Awan Megah is linked to Umno politician Datuk Raja Ropiah Abdullah.

Previously, Astacanggih had sued Awan Megah for breach of contract, with Deepak claiming his company had in May 2007 entered into an agreement with Awan Megah to acquire government land that was awarded to them.

Awan Megah was awarded the land and a cash consideration in exchange for developing a defence education centre called Pusat Pengajian Pertahanan Nasional (Puspahanas) in Putrajaya.

The project is currently stalled.

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NFCorp takes aim at news portals, MP over reports on buyout

The company responsible for the scandalised National Feedlot Centre (NFC) plans to sue news portals The Malaysian Insider and Free Malaysia Today along with lawmaker Rafizi Ramli over reports on its takeover by a Japanese-Malaysian venture.

On July 9, The Malaysian Insider reported the National Feedlot Corporation (NFCorp) operated by the spouse of Wanita Umno chief Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil will be taken over by Kirimitonas Agro Sdn Bhd but that the latter will not be assuming the former firm’s liabilities that included a RM250 million federal loan.

Yesterday, NFCorp chairman and Shahrizat’s husband Datuk Seri Dr Mohamad Salleh Ismail told a news conference that Kirimitonas Agro was putting the RM250 million debt in its books.


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EC cleaning up electoral rolls, says it will issue regular reports

Stung by repeated criticisms over tainted electoral rolls, the Election Commission (EC) has formed an internal committee to clean up the voter lists with the first report to be released later this month.

EC deputy chairman Datuk Wan Ahmad Wan Omar (pic) said the committee began work after the May 5 general elections and would ensure the rolls for the next elections would be reliable and free from controversy.

"It is the EC's main priority to review the electoral rolls which has been said to be problematic by certain quarters.

"EC officials from all states are working together to clean up the electoral rolls and the committee will issue a report this month and from time to time," Wan Ahmad told The Malaysian Insider in Kuala Lumpur.

Electoral watchdog Bersih 2.0 and other civil groups have been asking for the rolls to be cleaned up since Election 2008, after allegations surfaced of phantom voters and foreigners in the lists based on identity cards issued by the National Registration Department.

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It’s official, Pakatan goes to court to dismiss all GE13 results

Pakatan Rakyat today went for the jugular – asking the High Court to set aside results of all 222 parliamentary seats in GE13, disband the discredited Election Commission and order fresh polls.

This unprecedented move, probably the first in any Commonwealth country, was made necessary because the indelible ink fiasco caused massive cheating, destroyed the integrity of GE13, and deprived the opposition pact of a legitimate opportunity to form the federal government of Malaysia, said Pakatan Rakyat in a suit which was filed this morning.

It noted that some 30 parliamentary seats were lost by Pakatan Rakyat by fewer than 10 per cent of the votes.

“Therefore even if a small percentage of dishonest voters were able to wrongfully vote more than once because of the deliberate failure of the EC to implement indelible ink, they were sufficient to affect the results in a significant number of seats,” said the opposition in a statement of claim.


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Former police commando files appeal against conviction

The Court of Appeal has allowed former Special Action Squad personnel Sirul Azhar Umar's application to include two additional grounds in his petition of appeal to set aside his conviction for the murder of Mongolian Altantuya Shaariibuu.

The grounds for consideration was that the proceedings before the High Court was a mistrial due to adverse publicity and that the trial judge could have been biased due to the publicity.

A three-man bench chaired by Datuk Seri Mohamad Apandi Ali allowed the application after Deputy Public Prosecutor Datuk Tun Majid Tun Hamzah did not raise any objection.

Last week Sirul's lawyers filed a notice of motion at the Court of Appeal registry in an attempt to include additional grounds of appeal.

In the application, Sirul claimed that he was subjected to extensive "adverse publicity" during the trial which was misleading and prejudicial to him, thus denying him a fair hearing.


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Reveal MAS-Tajudin settlement, says Pakatan

Malaysia Airlines (MAS) should disclose its terms of settlement with its ex-chairman Tan Sri Tajudin Ramli, Pakatan Rakyat (PR) leaders have said, adding that the lack of transparency was unacceptable as millions of taxpayers’ money were at stake.

Last Friday, MAS settled out of court its three lawsuits against Tajudin (picture), a move the national carrier described as “considerably viable”.

“He (Tajudin) has agreed to surrender valuable land in Langkawi where the Four Seasons Hotel stands,” a court source told The Malaysian Insider on condition of anonymity.

“What exactly is the value of the land in Langkawi which is able to settle all outstanding disputes with MAS?” asked Tony Pua, the DAP’s national publicity secretary.

He said the settlement was “highly suspicious” and “MAS has no right to claim this being a private company settlement because it has been bailed out one too many times with taxpayers’ money.

Shahrizat not directly involved in NFC, says DPM

The call made by Barisan Nasional (BN) backbenchers' deputy chief Datuk Bung Mokhtar Radin, the BN's Kinabatangan Member of Parliament, for Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil to resign is unwarranted and uncalled for.

At a Press conference here yesterday, Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said that Agriculture and Agro-based Industries Minister Datuk Seri Noh Omar had already given a lengthy and comprehensive explanation following the National Feedlot Corporation Sdn Bhd's (NFC) fiasco as revealed by the Auditor-General’s 2010 Report recently.

“Shahrizat is not directly involved in NFC because this is the company’s operational matter managed by her family. Whether Bung's comment is called for, it is up to him to figure it out himself," said Muhyiddin, also Education Minister, in coming to Shahrizat's defence.

'Explain unexplainable decision' Submitted by shaza on Thursday, November 17th, 2011 * Local * News * PKFZ scandal * Politics Cabinet ministers who opposed the PKFZ project were 'yes men', says Pas vice-president

PAS vice-president Datuk Mahfuz Omar has urged Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz to divulge what transpired during past Cabinet discussions on the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) project.

He said Nazri's statement many ministers opposed the project but later agreed to it for fear of it turning into "a big issue", was unacceptable.

"What does Nazri mean by they had to agree to the project in the end, despite having many ministers opposing it because they are afraid of it becoming a bigger issue? What is this 'bigger issue'?

"Nazri needs to give an explanation to the rakyat about what happened during the meeting and what the opinions of the other ministers were.

"The rakyat need to know because Nazri was among the Cabinet members present when (the Then Transport Minister) Tun Dr Ling Liong Sik proposed the PKFZ project," said the Pokok Sena MP at a Press conference at the Parliament lobby yesterday.

Audio recording of Cabinet meetings destroyed, says witness

The High Court hearing the case involving former Transport Minister Tun Dr Ling Liong Sik, who is charged with cheating the government, was told today that audio-recordings of cabinet meetings were destroyed after the minutes of the meetings were endorsed.

Bukit Aman Commercial Crime Investigation head, Supt R.Rajagopal, 48, said because of that he could not tender the recording as an exhibit.

In the hearing last Monday, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz told the court that an audio-recording would be made during cabinet meetings, including when they discussed the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) project.

Rajagopal, who is the 25th prosecution witness, said Dr Ling gave his full cooperation during the police investigation on Oct 2, 2009 and April 1 last year.

Valuer: Incomplete build reason for RM3.5m Khir mansion price

A general view of the entrance to Dr Khir’s mansion in Shah Alam.



Unfinished building construction was the reason why Dr Mohamad Khir Toyo’s mansion and land was valued at RM3.5 million, the former Selangor mentri besar’s corruption trial was told today.

Choy Yue Kwong, a valuer from Rahim & Co that had been appointed by HSBC to value the price of Dr Mohamad Khir’s palatial home, testified that even RM 5.5 million was too high a value to put on the mansion.

He said that there was no reason why anyone should “overpay [for] property,” especially a house that was not yet fully constructed.

Responding to a query from defence lawyer Datuk Jahabardeen Mohamed Yunoos, Choy said that anyone who saw Khir’s mansion at the time of purchase and still bought it any amount beyond RM5 million was “not a prudent buyer.”

Nazri gave misleading info on PI Bala’s case dismissal, PKR says

PKR vice-president Sivarasa Rasiah said that Nazri (pic) had given an inaccurate interpretation of the law which was “obviously wrong.”

PKR claimed today that Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz gave misleading information in Parliament about closing the case on private investigator P. Balasubramaniam.

PKR Information Chief Chua Tian Chang, or better known as Tian Chua, told reporters here that the answer of the minister in the Prime Minister’s Department to his question in Parliament contradicts the law.

“In a nutshell, Balasubramaniam’s case is completed and closed, so this is very weird because after so much publicity, in the end, without giving a reasonable excuse, the government said there is no case.

“If what Balasubramaniam had said was totally untrue, if what he had said was baseless, he should be taken action against because he has smeared the reputation of country’s leader,” he said.