The Federal Court has today fixed June 23 to 25 to hear the prosecution’s appeal over the acquittal of Chief Inspector Azilah Hadri and Corporal Sirul Azhar Umar, for the 2006 murder of Mongolian Altantuya Shaariibuu.

The dates were fixed by registrar Izzuddin Mohammed. This follows case management of the case today.

Lawyer J Kuldeep Kumar appeared for Azilah while DPP Manoj Kurup appeared for the prosecution.

“Yes, the two accused will have to be in court for the appeal,” said Kuldeep.

Kuldeep ( right ), who had appeared for lawyers Hasnal Rezua Merican and Kamarul Hisham Kamaruddin representing Sirul, had on Tuesday denied that the corporal could not be detected and risking the prosecution's appeal.

The two Special Action Unit members were initially convicted by the Shah Alam High Court in 2010 of murdering Altantuya at the jungle in Puncak Alam, near Shah Alam, between 10pm to 1am on Oct 18, 2006.

However, a close confidante to Najib Abdul Razak and political analyst Abdul Razak Baginda, was acquitted without his defence being called.

Azilah and Sirul were acquitted by the Court of Appeal on Aug 23 last year after the three-member panel found there were serious misdirections by the trial judge.

Justice Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat ( left ), who wrote the unanimous decision, found that the non-calling of Najib's former aide de camp Musa Safri when Najib was deputy prime minister was fatal for the prosecution's case.

She also ruled that it was unsafe to convict Sirul as she did not rule out the possibility of the corporal being framed .

There has been an uproar over the acquittal as no one is now blamed for Altantuya's death. The Mongolian translator is linked to Malaysia's purchase of the two Scorpene submarines.