Word: shaariibuu
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Dates: during 2007-2007
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...Malaysia, a tidy Southeast Asian nation that is often held up as a model of a Muslim-majority democracy, doesn't usually play host to a murder trial that seems better suited to an episode of The Sopranos. Indeed, the killing of model turned interpreter Altantuya Shaariibuu last October has riveted this country of 25 million. First, there is the sheer luridness of the case. Then, there are the political implications: some Malaysians think it might hurt the succession hopes of Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak. For others, the trial, which opened last month, serves as a bellwether...
...story begins in 2004 when a polished Malaysian think-tank director named Abdul Razak Baginda met the comely Shaariibuu at a party in Hong Kong. A married father, Abdul Razak, now 47, had been educated in Britain, had written several books on Malaysia's political economy, and was known to be close to Deputy PM Najib. Abdul Razak and Shaariibuu began a romantic relationship, meeting up for secret liaisons across Asia. Eight months later, Abdul Razak broke off the affair, according to the prosecution and a court affidavit filed by him. Abdul Razak alleges that Shaariibuu then began blackmailing...
...spring of 2006, however, Abdul Razak says he stopped sending money. In October, Shaariibuu traveled to the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur. In his affidavit, Abdul Razak says that after Shaariibuu showed up in town, he confided about her to a high-ranking security officer who worked for Najib. Then, on Oct. 19, according to Abdul Razak's affidavit, the think-tank head called a police officer associated with a high-level unit that provided security for top Malaysian leaders to tell him Shaariibuu was outside his house. Soon after, a car with three police agents pulled up and took...
...Shaariibuu's burned remains were found in a jungle outside Kuala Lumpur. Abdul Razak has pleaded not guilty to abetting murder; the two policemen charged with carrying out the killing have pleaded not guilty, too. If convicted, all three could face the death penalty...
...Just how the case will affect the Deputy Prime Minister is not yet clear. Najib, the heir apparent to PM Abdullah, has denied any involvement, stating that he never even met Shaariibuu. But on June 29 a court witness claimed she had seen a photo of Abdul Razak, Shaariibuu and a man she named as "Najib Razak" dining at a Paris restaurant. Najib has refused to comment on this specific testimony. "The longer he tries to avoid the issue, the more wild the rumors will be," says Lim Guan Eng, secretary-general of the opposition Democratic Action Party. "The government...