Abdul Razak, the married head of the Malaysian Strategic Centre
in Kuala Lumpur, met Altantuya, described as a freelance
interpreter and translator, at a gala party in Hong Kong in 2004,
according to a written statement given under oath that Abdul Razak
gave to investigators after he was arrested in November 2006.
In that statement, Abdul Razak said he met Altantuya again in
Shanghai in early 2005 and traveled with her to Kuala Lumpur and
France in mid-2005. He told investigators that he had given the
woman US$10,000 on three different occasions in cash and
jewelry.
She accompanied Abdul Razak to Paris at a time when Malaysias
defense ministry was negotiating through a Kuala Lumpur-based
company, Perimekar Sdn Bhd, which at the time was owned by yet
another company called Ombak Laut, wholly owned by Abdul Razak
Baginda, to buy two Scorpene submarines and a used Agosta submarine
produced by the French government a French-Spanish joint venture,
Armaris. The contract was not competitive.
The Malaysian ministry of defense paid one billion euros (RM 4.5
billion) to Amaris for the three submarines, for which Perimekar
received a commission of 114 million euros (RM 510 million) from
Amaris. Deputy Defense Minister Zainal Abdidin Zin told the Dewan
Rakyat, Malaysias parliament, that the commission was not a bribe
to Perimekar. He said the money was paid for coordination and
support services although the fee amounted to a whopping 11
percent of the sales price for the submarines.
Although Najib denies ever meeting Altantuya, according to the
website of the Malaysian Association in France and other websites,
on June 11, 2005 Najib gave a press conference in France after
having visited the site where the two Scorpene submarines were
being built. As a maritime nation, (the) acquisition will give our
navy the added capabilities, he told the media. Earlier, in the
port city of Brest, Najib had visited a naval base where Malaysian
navy submariners were training, and, according to the log of an
Australian submariner association, presented jackets made available
by Perimekar to the crew.
Najib, Abdul Razak and Altantuya were thus in Europe at exactly the
same time. Abdul Razak was one of Najibs closest friends. Given
this closeness and the fact that the three were in Europe at the
same time and that Najib was presenting jackets made available by
Perimekar to the crew it is almost impossible to believe they had
not met.
Altantuya,by her own admission in the last letter she wrote, had
been blackmailing Abdul Razak, presumably to keep his family from
finding out about their relationship. But in his cautioned
statement to the police, he said he had already informed his family
of the relationship and said she was pressuring him for US$500,000.
If the family knew about the relationship and the fact that it had
been severed, it seems farfetched to think blackmail over a failed
relationship would have been enough to drive him to order her
murder, even though in his statement he said Altantuya had
threatened his daughter. He could just have said my wife knows
about this, and youre to go away. Why would he not employ legal
means to drive her away and protect his family?
Blackmail seems an odd word unless Altantuyas tale of blackmail
might have also involved the commission paid for the submarines
in which she appears to have acted as a translator and the
relationship between Najib and Abdul Razak. Her father, Shaariibuu
Setev, a psychology professor in Ulan Bataar, has repeatedly said
she was killed because she knew too much.
What makes it doubly unusual was that Abdul Razak was able to go to
Najibs bodyguards and request that she be removed. It seems
farfetched that he could order Najibs bodyguards to kill her
without Najibs permission. Bukit Aman UTK deputy commander Mastor
Mohd Ariff, an associate of the two bodyguards, said each
subordinate member in the unit was required to carry out their
official duties by following all orders of their superiors without
question, describing UTK members as like robots who would only
receive orders from superior officers. Abdul Razak, a civilian and
a mere friend Najibs, was not a superior officer in any
sense.
Another big question is why the immigration records of Altantuya
and her two Mongolian companions were erased from the governments
immigration files. It is difficult to believe that the bodyguards
would be able to call immigration and have those records pulled on
their own authority. Abdul Razak, who, although he was obviously
influential, didnt have the authority to have the records removed.
So who did?
Somehow, although murder is a non-bailable crime, Razak also was
freed on bond initially without security on the grounds of having
had bronchitis previously, and the bail was extended until public
outcry forced his incarceration. Who had the clout to get a common
citizen out of jail on a murder rap, especially on the rather
flimsy excuse of having had bronchitis in the past?
Why did the deputy prosecutor, Salehuddin Saidin, rule out the
possible involvement of any other parties than the three accused
long before the investigation was complete?
Why did the lawyer for one of the two police defendants quit,
saying his defense strategy had been subjected to pressure?
How did the bodyguards get their hands on C4, a plastic explosive
available only to Malaysias defense forces and not the
police?
None of these questions have been asked in court and both
prosecution and defense have betrayed a signal unwillingness to
stray beyond questions about the three defendants. The prosecution
has attempted to impeach the testimony of two of its own crucial
witnesses, supposedly because their testimony was unreliable, and
there have been numerous moves to eliminate much of the physical
evidence from the case. The confession of one of the two bodyguards
has been ordered stricken. Najib has not been questioned officially
about the case.
