14 Feb, 10 4:36pm | Malaysiakini
A tenth of the remains of the murdered Altantuya Shaariibuu were taken on Nov 17, 2006, back to her native Mongolia by her father Dr Shaariibuu Setev for purposes of her burial rites.
It is time, said lawyer Karpal Singh, that the government – on compassionate grounds – host Dr Shaariibuu once more so that he can collect the remaining 90 percent of Altantuya’s remains and complete the last rites in Mongolia to appease her soul.
In a statement, the DAP leader said the Honorary Consul-General of Mongolia in Malaysia Syed Abdul Rahman Al Habshi was informed by the Attorney-General’s Chambers that Altantuya’s remains could be released for the purpose of burial in Mongolia.
Following an enquiry from the Mongolian government, Syed Abdul Rahman had written to Inspector General of Police Musa Hassan asking for the Malaysian government and the Royal Malaysian Police Force to foot the bill for Shaariibuu and a representative’s journey to Malaysia for that purpose. This enquiry by the foreign and justice ministries of Mongolia arose out of the conviction and sentence to death of chief inspector Azilah Hadri and corporal Sirul Azhar Umar in April, 2009, said Karpal, who said a copy of the request relayed through Syed Abdul Rahman was extended to Attorney-General Abdul Gani Patail .
Since Syed Abdul Rahman’s letter dated Nov 26, 2009, however, there has been no reply from either Musa or Abdul Gani, said Karpal. Appeasing her spirit
Reiterating the request, Karpal said: The expenses incurred by Dr Shaaribuu and the representative for the purpose of coming to Malaysia to collect Altantuya’s bone fragments will not exceed RM20,000.
I cannot understand why, on compassionate grounds, the request made by the foreign and justice ministries of Mongolia cannot be favourably considered.
The government should not forget that Altantuya met her horrendous death by being blown up by C4 explosives by police personnel while she was in Malaysia. The least that the government can do is to bear the expenses requested, said Karpal.
In the event that the government is unwilling to bear the expenses, Karpal said he would be forced to seek public funds on compassionate grounds to bring and accommodate Dr Shaaribuu in Malaysia to collect his daughters remains.
Until her burial has been completed with the last fragments of her bones, said Karpal, her spirit will not be appeased.
Public interest demands that Malaysia show compassion, he added.
Justice delayed
On a related matter, Karpal criticised the judiciary’s delay in expediting the appeals of Azilah and Sirul Azhar against the death sentence ruled on them by the Shah Alam High court in April last year.
Given chief justice Zaki Azmi’s crusade against delays in the finalisation of trials and appeals in other matters, Karpal said there appears to be an exemption in the Altantuya murder appeal.
Having regard to the international spotlight on the issue, I wold have thought every effort would be made to speed up the appeal (of Azilah and Sirul Azhar) so that the adverse impact on the country could be minimised, and with the spirit of Altantuya being appeased.
The murder trial received overwhelming attention after a close aide of Prime Minister Abdul Razak – Abdul Razak Baginda – was charged with abetting Azilah and Sirul Azhar.
He was, however, later acquitted, and walk out a free man after the court found that the prosecution had failed to furnish adequate proof of conspiracy.
The court’s failure to address the issue of motive, among others, has sparked speculation that greater powers were involved in the case.
Najib has repeatedly denied having any links with the matter.