Altantuya's Cousin Denies Saying Razak Baginda Husband Of Victim

Friday, June 22, 2007
Altantuya Murder Case 22/7/07

Altantuya's Cousin Denies Saying Razak Baginda Husband Of Victim

SHAH ALAM, June 22 (Bernama) -- Mongolian Altantuya Shaariibuu's second cousin today denied she had stated that Abdul Razak Abdullah Baginda was Altantuya's husband when making a police report about Altantuya's missing on Oct 20.
Namiraa Gerelmaa, 23, also said she did not say anything about Altantuya having gone to Abdul Razak's house on Oct 19 but only stated that she (Altantuya) was missing as she had not returned to her hotel until the next day.
Abdul Razak, 46, is charged with abetting Chief Insp Azilah Hadri, 30, and Cpl Sirul Azhar Umar, 35, in murdering Altantuya, 28, at a location between lots 12843 and 16735 in Mukim Bukit Raja between 10pm on Oct 19 and 1am on Oct 20 last year.
They face the gallows if convicted.
Namiraa said this when questioned about the police report she had made at the Dang Wangi Police station in Kuala Lumpur that day by Deputy Public Prosecutor Manoj Kurup on Day Five of the high profile murder trial at the High Court here.
The contents of the report were read out inch-by-inch by Mongolian interpreter Enkhjargal Tsetsgee after it had been translated from Bahasa Malaysia to English by the court interpreter.
Enkhjargal: (In Mongolian ) On Oct 6, 2006, I and my friend Altantuya, aged 28 years, came to Malaysia and stayed at room number 821 of Hotel Malaya in Jalan Lekir, Kuala Lumpur.
Namiraa: The date is Oct 8 and I referred to her as sister, not friend.
Enkhjargal: The rest of the first sentence, is it ok?
Namiraa: Yes.
Enkhjargal: Second sentence. On 19.10.06 at 7pm while at Hotel Malaya, my friend Altantuya received a telephone call from an Indian man saying her husband had asked him to bring her (Altantuya) to No. 22 Jalan Setiajaya, Damansara Heights.
Namiraa: I never said those words.
Enkhjargal: Third sentence. Then at 8pm my friend called me to say she had arrived at the house of her husband by the name of Abdul Razak Baginda at address No. 22 Jalan Setia Jaya, Damansara Heights.
Namiraa: These are not my words. She only told me she had reached there.
Enkhjargal: Fourth sentence. For your information my friend had married Abdul Razak bin Abdullah.
Namiraa: No, these are not my words.
Enkhjargal: Fifth sentence. Until now I have been trying to contact my friend but her telephone cannot be reached.
Namiraa: Those are my words.
Enkhjargal: Sixth sentence. The reason I am making this report is because I fear something might have happened to my friend.
Namiraa: Yes, I said those words. But not the word friend. It is sister.
Following the discrepancies in the report, the court did not mark it as an exhibit until the officer who took it down was called to testify.
When Manoj asked Namiraa if the report was read back to her at the police station, she said: "Even if read back to me I would not have understood. Nobody told me."
Manoj: Did you find out what happened to Altantuya?
Namiraa: No.
Manoj: Until today?
Namiraa: I know today she had been murdered brutally, shot twice, and body blown up.
Manoj: When were you told?
Namiraa: I saw on TV in Mongolia.


Altantuya Left List Of Contacts Should Anything Happen - Cousin

SHAH ALAM, June 22 (Bernama) -- Altantuya Shaariibuu made out a list of names and telephone numbers of those who should be contacted if anything happen to her, her cousin told the High Court here today.
Namiraa Gerelmaa, 23, said Altantuya gave the list to her and their friend, Uuriintuya Gal Ochir. Both of them accompanied Altantuya to Malaysia to look for political analyst Abdul Razak Abdullah Baginda.
Namiraa said that of the names in the list, she contacted Altantuya's friend, Burmaa Oyunchimeg, and told her about Altantuya's disappearance on Oct 19, 2006 after she (Altantuya) went to Abdul Razak's house.
She called Burmaa, who was in Hong Kong, using a phone belonging to Altantuya's private investigator, Ang Chong Beng. "I explained to her in Mongolian," she said.
Burmaa than telephoned Ang. "Burmaa spoke to Ang in English," Namiraa said in reply to Deputy Public Prosecutor Manoj Kurup.
The next day, on Oct 20, 2006, Ang accompanied her to lodge a police report about Altantuya's disappearance, she said.
She also said that she and Uuriintuya had before this accompanied Altantuya to Abdul Razak's house in a taxi.
Namiraa: "I remember the place -- Jalan Setiajaya. I think it was Razak Baginda's house. I didn't know the reason."
Manoj: "Which of you three wanted to go to Razak Baginda's house?"
Namiraa: "It was Altantuya."
Manoj: "What happened when you reached Razak Baginda's house?"
Namiraa: "When we reached there, Bala was waiting there. So, Altantuya asked Bala whether Razak was inside or not. His answer was no. So we left the place."
Manoj: "Where was Bala at that time?"
Namiraa: "He was outside the gate."
Manoj: "Bala was outside the gate. Did Altantuya come out of the taxi to speak to him?"
Namiraa: "No, she did not."
Manoj: "So, when Bala said Razak was not in, you all left?"
Namiraa: "Yes."
Manoj: "You went back to the hotel?"
Namiraa: "Yes."
Manoj: "Once the three of you reached the hotel, what happened?"
Namiraa: "Once we reached the hotel, Altantuya told us may be Razak was in the house now. She said 'I'll go back there to wish him Happy Deepavali'. She asked me and Uuriintuya to stay back at the hotel. Altantuya told us that if she goes alone, may be she can meet him."
Namiraa said Altantuya left the hotel at about 9pm to go to Abdul Razak's house alone in the same taxi.
Manoj: "After Altantuya left, did you or Uuriintuya hear from her again?"
Namiraa: "Once we entered our hotel room, Altantuya called the hotel telephone saying she was outside Razak's house".
Manoj: "Did she say when she was coming back?"
Namiraa: "She only told us she was outside Razak's house. Then the phone line was cut-off."
Manoj: "When the phone line got cut-off, did you try to call Altantuya?"
Namiraa: "I think after an hour later, I tried to call her but couldn't get through."
Manoj: "When Altantuya was going alone after she dropped you and Uuriintuya at the hotel, did either of you try to stop her?"
Namiraa: "Uuriintuya told her may be the three of us go together, but Altantuya said if she goes alone, she can manage to see Razak."
Manoj: "After the phone call, did you hear further from Altantuya?"
Namiraa: "No."
Manoj: "What did you and Uuriintuya do?"
Namiraa: "We tried to make calls to Altantuya many times. We couldn't get her. Finally at 1am, we told the hotel manager, a lady. She advised us to go to the police the next morning. I also called Ang to ask for his help."
She said she also tried to contact Balasubramaniam and K. Suras Kumar to know where Altantuya was. Balasubramaniam told her that he did not know while Suras Kumar could not be reached.
The next day, she and Ang lodged a police report at the Dang Wangi police station.
Namiraa also told the court that she, Altantuya and Uuriintuya arrived in Malaysia on Oct 8, 2006 and stayed at Room No. 821, Hotel Malaya, Kuala Lumpur.
She said she had followed Altantuya twice to an office building because Altantuya wanted to see someone. She said she and Altantuya went to the 10th floor of the building.
When asked who was Altantuya looking for there, Namiraa replied: "Razak Baginda. Razak Baginda."
In the building, she said, Ang was also there but she did not speak to him.
She said that after Altantuya failed to see Abdul Razak in there, they went back to Hotel Malaya.
The trial before Justice Datuk Mohd Zaki Md Yasin resumes on Monday.


DPP, Karpal At Each Others' Throat In Altantuya Murder Trial

SHAH ALAM, June 22 (Bernama) -- The trial for the murder of Mongolian Altantuya Shaariibuu became tense momentarily today after Karpal Singh insisted on posing more questions to the woman's father than he was allowed to.
Karpal, who holds a watching brief for the victim's family, does not have the right to participate actively in questioning witnesses and making submissions in the trial.
Today, he told the High Court that he wanted to pose only two questions to Dr Shaariibuu Setev who was in the witness' stand, and Judge Datuk Mohd Zaki Yasin allowed him to do so.
When the veteran lawyer pursued further with the questioning, Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Tun Abdul Majid Tun Hamzah stood up and said the court had ruled in previous proceedings that Karpal could ask questions to the witnesses through the court or through the DPP.
Tun Abdul Majid said that he had asked Karpal whether he had any questions for Shaariibuu to answer but then, Karpal told the court that the prosecution was "unfriendly" and that he would rather pose the questions through the court.
At one point when both men were at each others' throat, Karpal, who is wheelchair-bound, pointed at Tun Abdul Majid and told him to sit down.
Tun Abdul Majid raised his voice and responded angrily: "What about you? You cannot tell me to sit down."
"You're very arrogant Tun Majid. You're showing your arrogance right now," Karpal replied.
Mohd Zaki then stepped in to end the quarrel by telling Karpal to respect Tun Abdul Majid and that he should not have told Tun Abdul Majid to sit down.
Let there be no more heated exchanges between the DPPs and counsel in the future, he said.


Altantuya's Father Weeps When Shown Her Photo

SHAH ALAM, June 22 (Bernama) -- Altantuya's father, Shaariibuu Setev, wept upon being shown his daughter's photo while testifying in the high Court here Friday in the trial of three men charged with her murder and abetment.
Upon seeing this, Justice Datuk Mohd Zaki Md Yasin allowed a 30-minute recess to enable Shaariibuu to calm down before cross-examination by the defence.
Earlier, when asked by deputy public prosecutor Manoj Kurup who the woman in the photo was, Shaariibuu said that many people had reported and called her a Mongolian woman "but if you want me to mention her name, I will.
"She is Altantuya", he said in the Mongolian language and immediately took off his spectacles to wipe his tears before his words were interpreted into English.
Shaariibuu was the prosecution's second witness at the trial of Chief Insp Azilah Hadri, 30, and Cpl Sirul Azhar Umar, 35, charged with murdering Altantuya, 28, at a location between lots 12843 and 16735 in Mukim Bukit Raja here between 10pm on Oct 19 and 1am on Oct 20 last year.
Political analyst Abdul Razak Abdullah Baginda, 46, is charged with abetting them the previous day.

Altantuya murder trial: Judge orders Altantuya, Razak families be kept apart
Justice Mohd Zaki Md Yasin has ordered that the families of Abdul Razak Baginda and Shaariibuu Setev be kept apart after the Mongolian complained of being harassed by the wife of the political analyst.
Shaariibuu said Mazlina Makhzan had been harassing him since the beginning of the murder trial of his daughter, Altantuya.
He claimed that she had kicked him and, during a break this morning, had punched him in the stomach as she passed by him.
Abdul Razak is accused of abetting two cops of murdering Altantuya in October last year.