SHAH ALAM, 16 Jan 2009: Chief Inspector Azilah Hadri, accused of murdering Mongolian Altantuya Shaariibuu, told the High Court here today that he had no intention of killing her.
He also had no intention of eliminating the woman when he and co-accused, Corporal Sirul Azhar Umar, went to her room at Malaya Hotel, he said in his defence.
Azilah, 32, and Sirul Azhar, 36, both police Special Action Unit (UTK) operatives, are charged with murdering the 28-year-old woman in Mukim Bukit Raja between 10pm on 19 Oct 2006, and 1am the following day.
On 31 Oct 2008, the court acquitted and discharged political analyst Abdul Razak Abdullah Baginda, 49, of abetting them in the murder.
Azilah disagreed with a suggestion by public prosecutor Tun Abdul Majid Tun Hamzah that he and Sirul Azhar were waiting for the right time and place to carry out the murder.
He said he went to the Malaya Hotel on 18 Oct 2006 merely to advise Altantuya to stop harassing Abdul Razak and refrain from creating a disturbance at the latter’s residence.
Asked whether he was paid for giving the advice, Azilah said: “No.”
Azilah also denied that he had told Abdul Razak that he could stop the harassment as he had killed more than six people before.
On the Malaya Hotel visit, Azilah admitted that (based on the CCTV footage) he and Sirul Azhar were pacing in front of Altantuya’s room but did not knock on the door because he did not want to disturb the occupant.
“Had I knocked on the door and it turned out to be the wrong person, it would anger the person. We’ve got to respect people. Anyway, it was not our problem, we were merely helping out,” he said.
When Abdul Majid asked why he did not call up Altantuya to give the advice, Azilah said: “It did not cross my mind.”
Earlier, Azilah said he did not know the names of the “Chinese woman and man” mentioned by Abdul Razak and he went to look for the woman based on the hotel address given to him.
On his relationship with Sirul Azhar, he said he got acquainted with the second accused when they began serving in the UTK four years ago and he had trusted Sirul Azhar to help solve Abdul Razak’s problem.
Azilah repeated that he went to Abdul Razak’s aid on the instruction of DSP Musa Safri.
The trial before Justice Datuk Mohd Zaki Md Yasin continues on 19 Jan. — Bernama
