No Mandatory Death Penalty Now So Sirul Can Return Says Lawyer

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SN Nair said the Malaysian government should assure Australian authorities that Sirul Azhar Umar’s death sentence can be reviewed if he makes an application. (Bernama pic)PETALING JAYA: The attorney-general can apply for Sirul Azhar Umar to be repatriated as the government has officially declared a moratorium on executions following the abolition of the mandatory death sentence, says senior lawyer SN Nair.
Speaking to FMT, Nair also said the Malaysian government should inform Australian authorities that Sirul’s death sentence can be reviewed if he makes an application.
Sirul, the former police officer sentenced to death for the 2006 murder of Mongolian Altantuya Shaariibuu, was released from an immigration detention centre in Australia two days ago.
His release was made possible after an Australian High Court had ruled that indefinite immigration detention is unlawful.
Sirul’s lawyer, William Levingston, reportedly said Australia will not allow his client to be deported to Malaysia as he faces the death penalty.
But with the mandatory death sentence in Malaysia now abolished and a moratorium on executions in place since 2018, some have questioned whether Australia will repatriate Sirul to let the Malaysian courts review his sentence.
Nair noted that the Abolition of Mandatory Death Penalty Act 2023 took effect on July 4 while the Review of Sentence of Death and Imprisonment for Natural Life (Temporary Jurisdiction of the Federal Court) Act 2023 (Act 847) took effect on Sept 12.
Nair said the Malaysian government should assure the Australian authorities that Sirul’s case was among the death sentences that were passed before the new Act came into force and thus can be reviewed.
“The government has declared a moratorium on the implementation of all death sentences and this should also include Sirul’s case,” he said.
“Like all others on death row, he too is entitled to a review of the sentence.”
Last week, deputy law and institutional reform minister Ramkarpal Singh said as of Oct 31, the courts had received 807 review applications involving mandatory death sentences following the implementation of the new Act.
The first hearings for sentence reviews under Act 847 will take place on Nov 14 at the Federal Court in Putrajaya.
Home ministry confirms Sirul’s release
When contacted, home minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail confirmed Sirul’s release but did not elaborate on the government’s next step.
“I will issue a statement in 48 hours,” he told FMT.
Sirul and fellow former police officer Azilah Hadri were handed the mandatory death sentence in 2009 by the High Court for killing Altantuya, who was shot in the head in 2006 in a forest in Puncak Alam, Selangor. Her body was later blown up with explosives.
They succeeded in overturning their conviction at the Court of Appeal in 2013, but the Federal Court restored their conviction and sentenced them to death in 2015.
Sirul fled to Australia before the final verdict. He had been held at the Villawood immigration detention centre since 2015 after being detained by Australian police. His first application for political asylum in Australia was rejected in 2019.
Azilah is currently on death row at Kajang Prison. - FMT

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