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Umno leadership drama...Opposition attacks...Official Secrets Act...practically all major aspects of Malaysian politics may be dragged in THE MALAYSIAN INSIDER 
Lim Kit Siang (in suit) and Raja Petra Kamaruddin surrounded by members of the press at the PJ Sesssions Court yesterday. — The Malaysian Insider picture by Choo Choy May
KUALA LUMPUR, May 7 — There will be two trials for the murder of Mongolian model Altantuya Shaariibuu. The first is the court case that began on June 18 last year but which seems to be meandering through the Shah Alam High Court with little coherence or urgency. The second is the case which will begin on Oct 6 when webmaster Raja Petra Kamaruddin fights the charge of posting a seditious article titled "Let’s send the Altantutya murderers to hell." The report implicated Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and his wife Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor in the 2006 murder. This trial may drag on past the 5 days allotted by Sessions Court judge Nurmala Salim and could be a potentially explosive and expensive one for the DPM and the Abdullah administration. Raja Petra and his team of lawyers, half of them Pakatan Rakyat politicians, will revisit some of the contentious points of the Altantuya case and attempt to join the dots between Abdul Razak Baginda, the model and the DPM and his wife. This approach will be heaven-sent for those seeking to upset the transition of power between Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and Najib, and put the administration on the defensive. What more with trial beginning right in the middle of Umno divisional elections and a couple of months before the party’s main election. Raja Petra has hinted that some disclosures could be made in court. He challenged the government to repeal the Official Secrets Act so that he could furnish the court with evidence to fight the charge of sedition. "What makes you think I don’t have proof? What makes you think I don't have documents," he told reporters before he was charged in court on Tuesday. Fact is that it does not matter if he is only going to be armed with bluster and innuendos. When he gives evidence in October, he is going to have a platform to make more allegations and fire more missiles against Najib or anyone he chooses to implicate in the case. In his corner will be Karpal Singh, who has been keeping a watching brief for the Altantuya family in the ongoing murder trial. This veteran criminal lawyer was involved in some of the more heated moments of the case when he attempted to put Najib in the same frame as the model. Chief Inspector Azilah Hadri and Corporal Sirul Azhar Umar, both members of the police Special Action Squad, are charged with the murder of Altantuya on Oct 20, 2006. Political analyst Abdul Razak Baginda is charged with abetting them. Both police personnel allege that they were acting on the orders of Abdul Razak, who was being pestered by the model with whom he had an affair with. The political analyst – an advisor to Najib – has denied giving the two policemen instructions to kill Altantuya. The Opposition has viewed this case as Najib’s Achilles heel given his close ties to Abdul Razak, and has used every opportunity to tie him to the case by suggesting that he knew the model and that he was aware of her presence in Malaysia. The DPM has publicly denied these allegations. But he expected the ferocity of the attacks to increase after he was marked out by his party members as most suitable candidate to take over as party president under the succession plan which will see Abdullah stepping down before the term is over. He knows that the Opposition wants to shake him and damage his credibility among Malaysians, and create the perception that the Barisan Nasional government is on the verge of imploding. Najib’s supporters also reasoned that there would be increased activity to link him to the Altantuya case after he made clear to intermediaries of Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad that he was not interested in speaking out against Abdullah or challenging him for the number one position in Umno. His position in Umno, though, remains strong thanks to two decades of cultivating a network of loyal division and branch chiefs. In nearly every closed-door session held since Election 2008, party members have identified him as the Umno leader who can help revitalise the party. His supporters saw Raja Petra’s posting "Let’s send the Altantuya murderers to hell" as the first shot across the bow. Still, the jury is out on whether Najib did the right thing by responding officially through his press secretary to the website article. Critics of this approach said that it only served to draw more attention to the report and put the DPM and his wife on the back foot while those in favour argued that if the DPM did not challenge allegations and innuendos about him and his wife, these assertions would soon be treated as facts. But there appears a consensus that the police action was ill-timed. Raja Petra has been blogging for several years now and as he pointed out a few days ago, most of his articles would not pass the sedition or defamation test. So why did the police and Attorney-General’s Chambers decide to move on this report? DAP’s Lim Kit Siang gave his take in Parliament yesterday. He said that the police action and subsequent prosecution appeared orchestrated. "They (Najib and Rosmah) reserve the right to clear their names through the laws. So why have they used the government facilities to take action against Raja Petra Kamaruddin? This is the abuse of powers. There are other channels for the deputy prime minister and his family to take action against Raja Petra - to use civil action and litigation," he said, choosing his words well to score some points at Najib’s expense. Najib can expect Pakatan Rakyat de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim to weigh in with his views now and when Raja Petra’s trial begins in October. For the Opposition and Najib’s critics, the game plan is simple: turn the sedition trial into the second Altantuya Shariibuu trial.
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The more a criminal cover his trail the more trail will appear. Yet again, this will be a long show. Lets watch and learn RPK's wisdom and spirit.