The father of a brutally murdered Mongolian woman on Thursday hit out at the Malaysian government after a delay in his daughter's murder trial, saying he feared political interference.
In one of the most charged cases in recent years, a high court on June 4 began a trial over the murder of Altantuya Shaariibuu, who was killed and then blown up with explosives in October last year.
But the trial was swiftly postponed to Monday after a new government prosecutor was introduced on the day, a move criticized as irregular by lawyers observing the case.
"It is not any toy or game for whomever wants to join or to make his career better," Shaariibuu Setev told reporters, speaking through a translator.
"After eight months of preparation, it seems like there is a lack of preparedness," he said.
Altantuya's married lover, Abdul Razak Baginda, a political analyst and close associate of Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak, is charged with abetting the crime, while two police officers are charged with the murder.
Najib, who is also Malaysia's defense minister, has vehemently denied any involvement.
Shaariibuu said the Malaysian government had ignored letters from the Mongolian government pleading for transparency in the trial, and also alleged he was being censored by Malaysia's media.
"If the trial is again postponed, it will be proved it is really a political issue," he said.
The distraught father also said he believed Altantuya had been raped because of the violent nature of her death, which he blamed on Abdul Razak, whom he called a "devil."
Malaysian civil rights activists yesterday called for a fair and independent trial.
In a joint statement, a coalition of 22 civil groups questioned events leading up to the expected re-start of the trial on Monday.
"We are calling for a fair and independent trial," Yap Swee Seng, coordinator with the rights group Voice of the Malaysian People (Suaram) told reporters, adding that rights groups questioned a last minute change of prosecutors as it raises fears of "there might be political interference in the case."
Archeologists in Peru on Thursday said they found the 5,000-year-old remains of a noblewoman at the sacred city of Caral, revealing the important role played by women in the oldest center of civilization in the Americas. “What has been discovered corresponds to a woman who apparently had elevated status, an elite woman,” archeologist David Palomino said. The mummy was found in Aspero, a sacred site within the city of Caral that was a garbage dump for more than 30 years until becoming an archeological site in the 1990s. Palomino said the carefully preserved remains, dating to 3,000BC, contained skin, part of the
‘WATER WARFARE’: A Pakistani official called India’s suspension of a 65-year-old treaty on the sharing of waters from the Indus River ‘a cowardly, illegal move’ Pakistan yesterday canceled visas for Indian nationals, closed its airspace for all Indian-owned or operated airlines, and suspended all trade with India, including to and from any third country. The retaliatory measures follow India’s decision to suspend visas for Pakistani nationals in the aftermath of a deadly attack by shooters in Kashmir that killed 26 people, mostly tourists. The rare attack on civilians shocked and outraged India and prompted calls for action against their country’s archenemy, Pakistan. New Delhi did not publicly produce evidence connecting the attack to its neighbor, but said it had “cross-border” links to Pakistan. Pakistan denied any connection to
TRUMP EFFECT: The win capped one of the most dramatic turnarounds in Canadian political history after the Conservatives had led the Liberals by more than 20 points Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney yesterday pledged to win US President Donald Trump’s trade war after winning Canada’s election and leading his Liberal Party to another term in power. Following a campaign dominated by Trump’s tariffs and annexation threats, Carney promised to chart “a new path forward” in a world “fundamentally changed” by a US that is newly hostile to free trade. “We are over the shock of the American betrayal, but we should never forget the lessons,” said Carney, who led the central banks of Canada and the UK before entering politics earlier this year. “We will win this trade war and
Armed with 4,000 eggs and a truckload of sugar and cream, French pastry chefs on Wednesday completed a 121.8m-long strawberry cake that they have claimed is the world’s longest ever made. Youssef El Gatou brought together 20 chefs to make the 1.2 tonne masterpiece that took a week to complete and was set out on tables in an ice rink in the Paris suburb town of Argenteuil for residents to inspect. The effort overtook a 100.48m-long strawberry cake made in the Italian town of San Mauro Torinese in 2019. El Gatou’s cake also used 350kg of strawberries, 150kg of sugar and 415kg of
RSS