A Malaysian appeals court on Friday ordered two police officers freed after overturning their murder convictions in the killing of a Mongolian woman who had an affair with the prime minister’s friend.
The verdict is likely to revive claims of a political conspiracy surrounding the high-profile case that the opposition has repeatedly sought to link to Prime Minister Najib Razak.
The officers were the only suspects found guilty of shooting Altantuya Shaariibuu and blowing up her body with military explosives in 2006. A High Court judge in 2009 sentenced them to be hanged.
A three-judge panel in the Court of Appeals ruled that the High Court had overlooked gaps in the evidence, including whether the officers could have had possession of the explosives or were ever at the site where Shaariibuu’s remains were found.
The prosecution had contended that the 28-year-old Shaariibuu’s murder was ordered by her former lover Abdul Razak Baginda, a prominent defence analyst, after their affair ended.