The prosecution’s appeal against the acquittal of two police special action unit personnel on a charge of murdering Mongolian national Altantuya Shaariibuu is fixed for case management this Tuesday, Feb 25.

Lawyer Hazman Ahmad representing Chief Inspector Azilah Hadri said he received a notice from the Federal Court registry yesterday notifying him of the case management date.

“On that day (Feb 25) the court would fix the date to hear the prosecution’s appeal,” he said when contacted today.

Azilah, 37, and Corporal Sirul Azhar Umar, 42, were convicted and sentenced to death in 2009 after being found guilty by the High Court, of murdering Altantuya, 28, at Mukim Bukit Raja in Shah Alam between 10pm on Oct 19 and 1am on Oct 20, 2006.

The duo filed an appeal against the judgment, and on Aug 23 last year were granted an acquittal by the Court of Appeal which overturned their conviction.

The Court of Appeal in its 47-page judgment had held that circumstantial evidence adduced by the prosecution were insufficient to sustain the finding of guilt of the two policemen.

It said their guilt had not been satisfactorily proven, “thus the court was constrained to give them the benefit of the doubt”.

The prosecution filed its petition of appeal on Jan 3 this year, listing six reasons on why the three-member Court of Appeal bench was wrong in law and facts to allow the two policemen to escape the gallows.

Meanwhile, the prosecution did not appeal against the acquittal of former political analyst Abdul Razak Baginda, 50, who was charged with abetting Azilah and Sirul.

The High Court on Oct 31, 2008, held that the prosecution failed to establish a prima facie case against Abdul Razak.

- Bernama