PUTRAJAYA, Malaysia (AFP) – An ex-police officer convicted for murdering a Mongolian translator won an appeal Thursday against his death penalty in Malaysia, with the federal court commuting the sentence to 40 years in jail.
Malaysian national Azilah Hadri, 48, was one of two bodyguards to then defence minister Najib Razak convicted of shooting in 2006 Altantuya Shaariibuu, and then blowing up her body with military-grade explosives near Kuala Lumpur.
His accomplice Sirul Azhar Umar fled to Australia in 2015, where he was held in immigration detention until his release last November.
Azilah had filed the appeal after Malaysia passed a new law last year that allows judges to commute death penalty sentences.
Chief Justice Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat noted that Azilah’s appeal for a lighter sentence was also backed by the victim’s father, as she revised the penalty to 40 years behind bars and 12 strokes of the cane.
Altantuya’s killing was linked to a scandal which allegedly saw kickbacks doled out during a 2002 deal to purchase French submarines, on which the Mongolian national worked as a translator.
Allegations have long circulated that Najib and his wife Rosmah Mansor were involved in the murder. Both have denied the claims.
Najib, who went on to serve as premier, at one point was also forced to publicly deny having had an affair with the victim.
Altantuya’s lover Abdul Razak Baginda, a close aide to Najib, is a central figure in the scandal and was accused of arranging the kickbacks. He was also tried over the case but acquitted of abetting the crime.
