Murdered in Malaysia: The Altantuya Story

This is the A-Z of the 2006 murder by C4 plastic explosives of Mongolian national Altantuya who became embroiled in the Malaysian government's US$2.3 billion Scorpene Stealth Submarines procurement contract with France. Author E.S. Shankar makes it clear that the slaying of Altantuya Shaariibuu was not an unpremeditated execution carried out by two "rogue" cops, who had no motive whatsoever to kill her. Till today, the police, attorney-general and government have refused to investigate the case to establish who gave the orders to kill Altantuya, while the high court acquitted the one person who did have such a motive, without calling for his defense. This case represents one of the most shocking examples of government interference in the judiciary in Malaysian legal history. It bodes ill for the already tattered and torn image and reputation of those in the highest echelons of the police force, judiciary and the Executive branch of the Malaysian government. In the book's final chapter modeled after the famous 1898 expose 'J'accuse' by Émile Zola, E.S. Shankar lays firmly the blame for a massive cover-up right at the door-step of Malaysia's prime minister Najib Tun Razak and what he has branded, as his government of thieves.