Abdul Razak Baginda

Abdul Razak Baginda (born 1960) is a former political analyst from Malaysia, and close associate of the Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak. He became a household name in Malaysia in 2006 when he was charged with abetting the murder of Altantuya Shaaribuu. He is now in prison. He continues to write and read, even though he is still in prison. He however, has continued to write on current issues, with the publication of a new book on Malaysian foreign policies; the introduction was written while in prison.

Baginda, as he is often known, graduated with a bachelor’s degree in politics and government from City Polytechnic, London and graduated in 1982. He continued to study and gained a master's degree in War Studies at King's College London in 1984. He subsequently began a D.Phil in International Relations at Trinity College, Oxford, but did not complete.

In 1988, Baginda joined the Malaysian Armed Forces Defense College as a lecturer and eventually as the head of strategic studies. In 1993, he formed a think tank called the Malaysian Strategic Research Centre, which is based in Kuala Lumpur. It is responsible for the publication of many books on topics that include international relations, and such like. They regularly organise seminars on a myriad of local and international issues. He is also known to be an advisor to Najib Tun Razak.

In 2002, his name was mentioned in the Malaysian Parliament for brokering the purchase of three French Scorpene submarines by the Royal Malaysian Navy, in a deal estimated to be worth USD800 million. The negotiations were done through a Malaysian company, Perimekar Sdn Bhd, to buy two Scorpene submarines and a used Agosta submarine produced by the French government under a French-Spanish joint venture, Armaris. Perimekar at the time was owned by a company called Ombak Laut, which was wholly owned by Abdul Razak. The contract was not competitive as the Malaysian ministry of defense paid €1 billion (RM4.5 billion) to Amaris for the three submarines, for which Perimekar received a commission of €114 million (RM510 million). Deputy Defense Minister Zainal Abdidin Zin told the Dewan Rakyat, Malaysia's parliament, that the money was paid for "coordination and support services" although the fee amounted to a whopping 11 percent of the sales price for the submarines. [cite news | title=Malaysia’s legal pursuit of Anwar Ibrahim is destroying the country’s reputation | date=2008-07-21 | publisher=Malaysia Sentinel | url =http://www.asiasentinel.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1338&Itemid=35| work =John Berthelsen | pages = | accessdate = 2008-07-21 | language = ]

He is married to Mazlinda, a lawyer and former magistrate and they have one daughter born in 1987. Razak Baginda is a recipient of the Legion d'Honneur for his intellectual contribution.

Murder Trial

His reported friendship with Mongolian Altantuya ended and subsequently led her to begin harassing him. He then asked for help from the police, and this led to the murder and blowing up of her body allegedly by two officers from the special action unit (Unit Tindakan Khas). Chief Inspector Azilah Hadri and Corporal Sirul Azhar Umar are alleged to have murdered Altantuya in a jungle in Bukit Raja between 10pm on Oct 19 and 11am the following day, in 2006. They were then serving as body guards of Najib. The officers have been charged with the murder, and Abdul Razak Baginda has been charged with abetting them. The charges carry a mandatory death penalty.

If convicted, all three would be sentenced to death. He has since admitted to the relationship, which ended in about 2005. Baginda's family is hugely supportive of him and has maintained his innocence in the murder. The case is still ongoing at the moment. On July 22, 2008 lawyer Karpal Singh filed a notice of motion to call Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak and three others to testify in the trial for the murder of Mongolian Altantuya Shaariibuu. Karpal who holds a watching brief for Altantuya's family, also sought to recall private detective P. Balasubramaniam who was the first prosecution witness in the trial. Karpal also wanted all proceedings with regard to the trial to be postponed pending the disposal of his application. [cite news | title=Karpal Wants Najib To Testify In Altantuya Murder Trial | date=2008-07-21 | publisher=Bernama | url =http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v3/news_lite.php?id=347533| work =Bernama | pages = | accessdate = 2008-07-21 | language = ] On July 23, 2008 the High Court rejected a petition by lawyer Karpal Singh to obtain testimony from Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak, dealing a blow to the opposition's efforts to link Najib to the 2006 killing of translator Altantuya Shaariibuu. In rejecting the application, High Court judge Mohd Zaki said Karpal, who is holding a watching brief for victim Altantuya's family, has no locus standi or is in no position to make the application. He mentioned only the parties involved, namely the prosecution and the defence, have the right to do so. [cite news | title=Malaysian High Court rejects move to summon DPM Najib to testify in court | date=2008-07-24 | publisher=Channel News Asia | url =http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/southeastasia/view/362308/1/.html| work =ChannelNewsAsia | pages = | accessdate = 2008-07-24 | language = ] [cite news | title=Opposition Lawyer Loses Bid To Summon Malaysia's Deputy Leader As Murder Trial Witness | date=2008-07-23 | publisher=SinChew | url =http://www.mysinchew.com/node/14191?tid=14| work =Sin Chew | pages = | accessdate = 2008-07-23 | language = ]

Further Evidence

First Statutory Declaration

In a statutory declaration on June 18, 2008, Raja Petra Kamaruddin a Malaysian blogger activist accused Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor (the wife of Malaysia's Deputy Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak) of being one of three individuals who were present at the crime scene when Altantuya Shaariibuu was murdered on Oct 19, 2006 [ [http://blog.limkitsiang.com/2008/06/21/rpks-bombshell-allegation-on-altantuya-murder-abdullah-najib-rosmah-cannot-remain-silent/ Lim Kit Siang » Blog Archive » RPK’s bombshell allegation on Altantuya murder - Abdullah, Najib, Rosmah cannot remain silent ] ] . He wrote that Najib’s wife, Rosmah Mansor, and Acting Colonel Aziz Buyong and his wife, Norhayati, Rosmah’s aide-de-camp, were present at the scene of the murder and that Aziz Buyong was the individual who placed C4 plastic explosive on Altantuya’s body and blew it up. [cite news | title=Malaysian Deputy Premier’s Wife Linked to Murder | date=2008-06-23 | publisher=Asian Sentinel | url =http://www.asiasentinel.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1277&Itemid=34 | work =Asian Sentinel | pages = | accessdate = 2008-06-23 | language = ] The statutory declaration also mentioned that every information he obtained regarding the above allegations were contained in a Military Intelligence reports received by Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, implying knowledge on the part of the Prime Minister. [cite web|publisher=Malaysia Today|title=Rosmah at murder scene|work=No Holds Barred|date=June 21, 2008|accessdate=2008-06-23|url=http://www.malaysia-today.net/2008/content/view/9050/84/]

In retaliation, the two people named in Raja Petra Kamarudin’s statutory declaration on June 18, Lt-Col Aziz Buyong and his wife Lt-Col Norhayati Hassan, who were alleged to have been present at the murder scene of Mongolian Altantuya Shaariibuu sued the Malaysia Today editor for defamation. Aziz is seeking an apology from Raja Petra to be published in certain websites and newspapers, the removal of the statutory declaration from his blog and damages of RM1 million. [cite news | title=Two sue Raja Petra over statutory declaration | date=2008-06-28 | publisher=Malaysia Today | url =http://www.malaysia-today.net/2008/content/view/9328/ | work =Malaysia Today | pages = | accessdate = 2008-06-28 | language = ]

Second Statutory Declaration

A statutory declaration was filed on July 1,2008 by Abdul Razak Baginda's private investigator P. Balasubramaniam, disclosing Najib's links to the murdered Mongolian girl. He said the police omitted information about the relationship between Najib and Mongolian murder victim Altantuya Shaariibuu in his statement. [ cite news|url=http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/85500|publisher=Malaysiakini=1 July 2008|accessdate=2008-07-01|title=PI makes shocking revelations linking Najib to Altantuya ] [ cite news|url=http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/7/3/nation/20080703123900&sec=nation|publisher=TheStar=1 July 2008|accessdate=2008-07-01|title=Altantuya murder: PI implicates senior politician ] In the declaration, it was noted that Abdul Razak had told Balasubramaniam that the deputy prime minister had a sexual relationship with Altantuya and that the trio had dined together in Paris. Balasubramaniam detailed conversations in a statutory declaration in which the well-connected political analyst allegedly told him he had in effect inherited Altantuya as a lover from Najib, who passed her on because he didn’t want to be harassed as deputy prime minister. Among other lurid details, Balasubramaniam described text messages between Najib and Abdul Razak in which the latter was asking for help to avoid arrest. [ cite news|url=http://asiasentinel.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1344&Itemid=31|publisher=AFP=24 July 2008|accessdate=2008-07-24|title=Malaysia’s Najib Ducks a Court Appearance ]

Balasubramaniam made a retraction of the statutory declaration he made on July 1 and its replacement with one that erased all traces of allegations with references to Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak and Altantuya Shaariibuu's murder. There were accusations that this new statutory declaration could have been due to intimidation or inducement, and was done not of his own free will. His lawyer Americk Singh Sidhu said he was not able to get in touch with Bala despite repeated phone calls. [ cite news|url=http://www.theedgedaily.com/cms/content.jsp?id=com.tms.cms.article.Article_ee207b59-cb73c03a-1b092820-4c5b6be3|publisher=TheEdge=4 July 2008|accessdate=2008-07-04|title=Was Bala Subramaniam's retraction due to intimidation? ] The Malaysian police said on Sunday 6 July that they have asked Interpol to help find the private investigator who has been reported missing since making explosive claims linking the deputy premier to a murder. Bala's nephew has filed a missing person's report, saying the investigator and his family had disappeared. [ cite news|url=http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080706/wl_afp/malaysiapoliticsmongoliacrime_080706141354|publisher=AFP=6 July 2008|accessdate=2008-07-06|title=Malaysia seeks Interpol help to find missing investigator in murder claim ] It was discovered on July 10 that Balasubramaniam's house in Taman Pelangi here has been broken into but police have yet to ascertain whether anything was stolen. Balasubramaniam is said to have taken refuge in a neighbouring country with his wife and children. [ cite news|url=http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/7/11/nation/21799355&sec=nation|publisher=TheStar=11 July 2008|accessdate=2008-07-11|title=Bala’s house broken into ]

Alleged Interference by Najib

Even behind bars under ISA detention, Raja Petra's website Malaysia Today carried a report detailing allegations on an exchange of text messages between Najib and Shafee Abdullah, the prominent lawyer who represented Abdul Razak Baginda before he was charged with abetting two police officers in the murder of the Altantunya. The SMSes, which went on from 8 November to 2 December, 2006 raises some questions over the handling of the murder case and suggests that Najib took a strong interest in the investigation from the beginning. [cite news| title=Najib under pressure, again |date=2008-10-11| publisher=Malaysian Insider|url= http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/index.php/malaysia/10355-najib-under-pressure-again| work = The MalaysianInsider| accessdate = 2008-10-11]

References