Altantuya’s family to challenge Court of Appeal ruling clearing govt of liability over her death

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 20 — The family of Altantuya Shaariibuu intends to file an application for leave at the Federal Court to appeal the Court of Appeal’s decision today absolving the Malaysian government of liability over her death in 2006.

Lawyer Sangeet Kaur Deo said there were legal issues that needed to be addressed at the apex court, particularly on whether an employer can be held vicariously liable for its employees’ illegal conduct.

“This is certainly one area that I think will need to be revisited. For the time being, I think we are going to file an application for leave to the Federal Court,” she told a press conference via the video-conferencing app Zoom.

Earlier, a three-member Court of Appeal bench held that the Malaysian government was not vicariously liable for the wrongful acts of former police officers Azilah Hadri and Sirul Azhar Umar, as they were not performing their official duties at the material time.

The court, however, upheld liability against Sirul, Azilah and former political analyst Abdul Razak Baginda for their involvement in Altantuya’s death.

Sangeet explained that the ruling effectively absolved the Malaysian government of any responsibility for the actions of the former officers.

“The basis given by the court is essentially that it was not closely connected to their employment or the role that they played as police officers,” she said.

She added that today’s ruling also affirmed Abdul Razak’s role and involvement in Altantuya’s murder.

Noting that the High Court had erred in law in awarding the original RM5 million in damages, the Court of Appeal also reduced the damages awarded to Altantuya’s family from RM5 million to RM1.38 million.

The court found that both former officers were not acting in the course of their police duties when they took the deceased to a remote location and killed her, as the act was carried out pursuant to a private arrangement initiated by Abdul Razak.

For the government to be held vicariously liable, the Court of Appeal said the officers must have committed the act in the course of their employment, as required under Section 5 of the Government Proceedings Act.

Altantuya’s parents and grandson filed a RM100 million lawsuit on June 4, 2007, claiming that her death caused them mental shock and psychological trauma.

The Shah Alam High Court, on December 16, 2022, allowed the lawsuit and ordered Azilah Hadri, Sirul Azhar, Abdul Razak and the Malaysian government to jointly pay RM5 million in damages.

The government and Abdul Razak subsequently appealed against the High Court’s decision.

Azilah and Sirul were convicted in 2009 of murdering Altantuya in Shah Alam between October 19 and 20, 2006.

The Federal Court, in 2015, upheld their convictions and death sentences after overturning a prior acquittal by the Court of Appeal.

In October 2023, the Federal Court allowed Azilah’s review application and commuted his death sentence to 40 years’ imprisonment.

Sirul has been in Australia for years, as the country’s policy prohibits extradition or deportation if an individual faces the death penalty.