Will Sirul Return Corroborate Claims Of Altantuya Murder

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Reports that convicted killer Sirul Azhar Umar, who was sentenced to death for the murder of Altantuya Shaariibuu in 2015, has walked free will result in another round of legal tangles between Malaysia and Australia.
Sirul’s freedom was a result of an Australian High Court ruling against indefinite detention.
According to the Daily Mail, the former police officer was freed from Sydney’s Villawood Detention Centre yesterday and was said to be staying with a relative in Canberra.
Sirul and another police officer, Azilah Hadri, were convicted of murdering the Mongolian mother.
Both were convicted in the High Court but it was overturned by the Court of Appeal and they were set free. The Federal Court subsequently affirmed the High Court decision, and the two were sentenced to death.
Sirul had in the meantime, fled to Australia where his son resides.
The Malaysian government sought to extradite Sirul but that application was refused by Australia which has a policy of not deporting anybody facing the death penalty in the country of origin.
But from death row in Kajang Prison in 2019, Azilah made an explosive allegation - the order to kill Altantuya came from former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak and the latter’s close associate Abdul Razak Baginda.
In admitting for the first time that he and Sirul killed the Mongolian national, Azilah claimed he was merely following an explicit “shoot to kill” order as a member of the elite Special Action Force (UTK) of the police.
These details were contained in an application filed by Azilah, who is seeking the Federal Court to review its decision in the conviction and death sentence imposed on him and Sirul, who is also a former UTK personnel, in 2015.
Former police officer Azilah HadriHe also sought a retrial to provide full evidence of the clandestine operation in open court so that “justice will be served”.
However, all his applications were dismissed.
Death penalty preventing extradition
Sirul, at the time, was not twiddling his thumbs in detention. A battery of Malaysian lawyers landed at the gates of Villawood offering free advice in a bid to secure his freedom.
A middleman, a former Penang hockey player, was appointed “caretaker and liaison man” but nothing further happened despite large amounts of money being spent.
Sirul’s bid for asylum was turned down in 2019 and he was kept in indefinite detention.
But after yesterday, he is still not exactly a free man. He may be out of detention but he is a wanted man and a stateless person in the eyes of the government because he has no valid documents, having overstayed his tourist visa when he entered Australia.
The extradition request is still on the table of the Australian Foreign Office and with the death penalty not completely abolished in Malaysia, he may not set foot on these shores.
Last year, then prime minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob said the death penalty would remain and would not be abolished, with the change only being that judges would be given discretion in sentencing.
Former prime minister Ismail Sabri YaakobAustralian laws dictate that its attorney-general must refuse to provide assistance where a person was arrested or detained having committed an offence, or charged with, or convicted of a death penalty offence unless there are special circumstances.
An example of a special circumstance is when the foreign country provides an undertaking that the death penalty will not be imposed, or if the death penalty is imposed, it will not be carried out.
Another example of a special circumstance is that the assistance provided would assist a defendant to prove his or her innocence.
Staying Down Under
If he intends to stay in Australia, Sirul would have to make a fresh application for asylum and it would be a tricky situation for the Australian authorities.
He previously claimed he took part in the abduction of Altantuya - a Mongolian national who worked as a model and translator - but not her murder.
Australian lawyers said Sirul will now have to apply for a “protection” visa pending his application for asylum.
They said the previous extradition may no longer be valid because it was made under different circumstances - when he was in detention.
Now that he is a free man, a new application would have to be made and the Australian Federal Police will have to track Sirul, arrest, and detain him pending extradition to Malaysia.
But the lawyers said it would be a long process especially if he, like Azilah, gives the same grounds - that it was a “state-ordered execution” and disobeying it would amount to treason.
However, in an immediate response, Australian Immigration Minister Andrew Giles and Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil said their government was “considering other measures that may be appropriate to ensure community safety”.
“Individuals who are required to be released as a result of the High Court’s order will have appropriate visa conditions imposed on them in line with the need to protect the community. Conditions will be based on individual circumstances,” they said in a joint statement. - Mkini
R NADESWARAN is a veteran journalist who writes on bread-and-butter issues. Comments: [email protected].
The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.

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