Political analyst Abdul Razak Abdullah Baginda’s secretary said at the Kuala Lumpur High Court today that her boss told her he had asked former police officer Azilah Hadri only to guard his house and family.
Siti Aisyah Mohd Azlan, 36, was testifying in the civil case filed by the family of Altantuya Shaariibuu, who was murdered in 2006.
She said Razak told her that he did not order Azilah to carry out the murder of Altantuya, also known as “Amina”.
Aisyah, who is employed at Total Nexus (M) Sdn Bhd, Jalan Ampang, Kuala Lumpur, said on November 7, 2006, Razak told her that “something bad had happened”.
Asked by Sangeet Kaur Deo, the lawyer for Altantuya’s family, on what she meant by “something bad”, Aisyah said Razak had told her that “Amina” was dead (has been killed).
The witness earlier identified “Amina” through a photograph of Altantuya shown by the court interpreter.
Sangeet: After that?
Aisyah: I asked who did it.
Sangeet: What was the third defendant (Abdul Razak)’s reply?
Aisyah: He said Azilah did it.
Sangeet: Who is ‘Azilah’ that the third defendant was referring to?
Aisyah: UTK (Special Actions Unit) officer who had come to our office on Oct 18, 2006, and the first defendant.
Sangeet: Did the third defendant tell you how he knew Azilah was the one who did it?
Aisyah: No.
Asked to reveal further details of the conversation between her and Razak on that day, she said Razak told her that Azilah was not an ordinary cop, but a chief inspector.
She said, subsequently, several police officers, including one DSP Lim, came to the office and took Razak away.
Earlier, Aisyah, in her witness testimony, said she is still working with Razak as a secretary at his office Total Nexus (M) Sdn Bhd, at Jalan Ampang.
She said Amina had made four attempts to meet Razak at the office between August and October 2006.
In the first and only successful attempt, Aisyah said she heard Razak telling Amina that “I got nothing to do with you. If you want to do anything go ahead”.
She said the couple spoke for about three minutes outside the office.
“He walked back into his office but Amina was still outside the office,” Aisyah said, adding that the woman followed Razak as he left the office later the day.
She said the earlier three times she had come to Razak’s office and he did not meet her, Altantuya left notes to him and Aisyah passed them to Razak.
Asked by Razak’s lawyer Manjeet Singh Dhillion on whether her boss had used profanities at “Amina” or attempted to push her away, Aisyah said Razak did not do so.
She also said there was no instruction from Razak to keep his meeting with Azilah on Oct 18, 2006, as confidential.
This is not the first time Aisyah is a court witness for an Altantuya-related case. She was also summoned in 2007.
Altantuya was murdered in 2006 in the jungles in Puncak Alam near Shah Alam, Selangor, with a shot to the head before her body was blown up with explosives.
Azilah and another policeman, Sirul Azhar Umar were found guilty and sentenced to death for her murder.
Razak, who was an aide to then-deputy prime minister Najib Razak, was charged with abetting the duo, but later acquitted without his defence being called.
The secretary is the sixth witness to testify in the trial involving an RM100 million suit brought by Altantuya’s father, Dr Shaariibuu Setev Shaariibuu, his wife Altantsetseg Sanjaa and Altantuya’s son Mungunshagai.
They named Azilah and Sirul, Abdul Razak and the Malaysian government as defendants.
In their suit, the plaintiffs alleged of a conspiracy in Altantuya’s murder.
The hearing continues on May 14.