Jul 29, 2021
Altantuya’s family seeking witness statements linked to the criminal case
The family of Mongolian Altantuya Shaariibuu, who was murdered in 2006 should be allowed to have access to the witness statements linked to the case for civil suit purposes, the Court of Appeal hears.
Lawyer Sangeet Kaur Deo, representing Altantuya’s family has made a submission seeking disclosure of the documents of the case as it was the deceased family’s rights arising from her death.
According to her, the documents were linked to the investigation in which the criminal trial had concluded and that it would be impossible to tamper with witnesses.
Sangeet cited Section 112 of the Criminal Procedure Code in which the statements fall under saying that there were not privileged documents.
Sangeet asserted that it was a mistake made by the High Court to rule that the documents the Altantuya’s family are seeking were under Section 124 of the Evidence Act 1950 which would not allow disclosure as to prevent losing the confidence of the public in the authorities.
Altantuya’s family are appealing against the decision of the High Court to dismiss their application seeking for access on the statement witnesses in the criminal case linked to the case, to be used in their civil suit.
They had filed a RM100 million civil lawsuit against two former policemen, Azilah Hadri and Sirul Azhar Umar, political analyst Abdul Razak Baginda and the Malaysian government on June 4, 2007, seeking exemplary and aggravated damages.
