A prominent political analyst charged with abetting the murder of a Mongolian woman confessed to having an affair with her and claimed she blackmailed him in a stunning twist to a grisly and lurid case gripping Malaysia.
In a sworn statement produced by his lawyer in court on Friday, Abdul Razak Baginda, 47, gave a detailed account of his illicit eight-month affair with Altantuya Shaariibuu, 28, beginning late in 2004.
He also detailed events leading to her murder in a bid to show he was not responsible for her death, and said he should be freed on bail ahead of his trial next year. But High Court Judge K.N. Segara rejected the bail plea, saying the crime was too serious.
Abdul Razak portrayed Shaariibuu as a manipulative gold-digger, saying he gave her US$10,000 after hearing "sob stories" about her financial situation, but later found them untrue and ended the affair in 2005.
Abdul Razak's lawyer, Wong Khin Keong, read parts of the statement in court.
According to the statement, Shaariibuu kept pestering Abdul Razak for money and threatened to go public with their affair, prompting him to seek help from a private investigator and later from a policeman, Chief Inspector Azilah Hadri.
Azilah and his colleague, Constable Sirul Azhar Umar, have been charged with murdering Shaariibuu on Oct. 19 last year. Abdul Razak is charged with abetting the murder. Their joint trial will begin on March 10 next year, and all three face the death penalty if found guilty.
The murder case has riveted Malaysia's media and the governing elite because of the gruesome nature of the killing and the high-profile personalities involved.
Abdul Razak is a member of the World Economic Forum's Global Leaders for Tomorrow and the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies.
Shaariibuu was believed to have been shot and her body blown up with military-grade explosives.
Only fragments of her body parts were found in a jungle clearing outside Kuala Lumpur.
The unexpected revelation about the affair came after months of denial by Abdul Razak that he and Shaariibuu were lovers.
Karpal Singh, a lawyer for Shaariibuu's family, said he was surprised by Abdul Razak's move in court, especially since Friday's hearing was only to hear his bail application.
"It is unusual for an accused to set up his defense in the form of an affidavit in an elaborate manner before the trial begins," Karpal told reporters.
Judge Segara also noted that Abdul Razak's statement suggests he had the "motive to get rid of" Shaariibuu.
Karpal said he also plans to file a civil suit on behalf of Shaariibuu's family against the three accused, as well as the Malaysian government for compensation. Shaariibuu, who has been married twice, has two sons under age 5, one of whom is handicapped, the lawyer said.
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