KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 23 — The prosecution should not be blamed for today's appellate court decision to reverse the 2009 death sentence on Mongolian Altantuya Shaariibuu's convicted former policemen, Attorney-General (A-G) Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail has said.
Faced with public fire for the release of the two former police commandos for the high-profile 2006 murder of the Mongolian beauty, Abdul Gani issued terse statement pointing his finger back to the High Court judge report The Malay Mail Online.
"Non-directions by the trial judge on issues raised by the appellants in his judgement which amounted to misdirections and the non-calling of one DSP Musa Hj Safri formed the main grounds of the setting aside of the conviction and sentence.
"While respecting the Court of Appeal, the Attorney General’s Chambers for the prosecution is dissatisfied with the decision as non-direction or misdirection by the trial court is not the fault of the prosecution," he said.
The government's top lawyer also maintained that testimony from Musa -- who was aide-de-camp to Datuk Seri Najib Razak, then the deputy prime minister -- was irrelevant to the prosecution's case during the marathon trial.
"As far as DSP Musa Hj Safri, we maintained that his testimony had no relevance at all as the whole narrative of the prosecution’s case had been unfolded in the trial below," he said, and concluded his statement by pledging to appeal the conviction reversal to the Federal Court.
Abdul Gani's statement came on the heels of a demand for an explanation from opposition lawmakers who condemned the A-G for its flawed handling of the prossecution.
The Court of Appeal had this morning overturned Azilah Hadri and Sirul Azhar Umar’s 2009 conviction, reportedly ruling that there was a misdirection by the High Court judge in the trial then.
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altantuya murder case altantuya shaaribuu Attorney-General Malaysia azilah hadri Latest News Malaysia News sirul azhar Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail