KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 9 — There is no need for the police to carry out new investigations into the murder of Mongolian Altantuya Shaariibuu in 2006, Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar said today.

Khalid noted that the Court of Appeal’s recent acquittal of two former police commandos over Altantuya’s murder was a court decision that should be respected, saying that the matter was still ongoing in the courts.

“That is the court’s findings so everybody should respect it,” he said in a media conference today when asked if the police would carry out a fresh probe into the high-profile murder.

Khalid added that an appeal against the Court of Appeal decision was still available.

“If there are any quarters who are not satisfied, they have avenue to appeal,” he said.

“The court process is not done yet.”

Immediately after the court’s reversal of the conviction of the two former police commandos, the Attorney-General said an appeal would be filed with the Federal Court.

On August 23, a three-man panel of the Court of Appeal unanimously ruled that Azilah Hadri and Sirul Azhar Umar should be allowed to appeal their charges, effectively overturning their 2009 conviction.

Azilah and Sirul, both formerly with the police’s Special Action Unit (UTK), had been found guilty in 2009 of committing the offence in Mukim Bukit Raja in Klang between 10pm on October 19, 2006 and 1am on October 20, 2006.

During the course of their trial, it was revealed that the Mongolian model was shot and her body blown-up with explosives in a jungle clearing on the night of October 19.

The duo had been charged under section 149 of the Penal Code, which carries the mandatory death sentence upon conviction.

Altantuya was said to have acted as a translator for Perimekar Sdn Bhd in Malaysia’s multi-billion ringgit purchase of two Scorpene-class submarines from French firm DCNS, prior to her murder.

Perimekar is owned by Abdul Razak Baginda, and reportedly received RM574 million in commission for providing support and co-ordination services to Putrajaya for the 2002 deal, back when Datuk Seri Najib Razak was the defence minister.

Abdul Razak was initially charged with abetting Azilah and Sirul but was acquitted on October 31, 2008, after the Shah Alam High Court ruled that the prosecution had failed to establish a prima facie case against him.

After the August 23 decision, PKR called for a royal commission of inquiry (RCI) into what it has called a “failed prosecution”, especially with the acquittal of Abdul Razak, Sirul and Azilah.

PAS vice-president Datuk Mahfuz Omar had also proposed a reinvestigation and called for the formation of a Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) into the matter.

“Therefore I hope for a reinvestigation of the Altantuya case,” he had said then, voicing his doubts that the initial probe was done in a transparent manner.