‘NEED TO AMEND LAW TO BRING BACK SIRUL’
Australia, where the convicted killer is held, is against the death penalty, says DPM
MALAYSIA wants to extradite convicted killer Sirul Azhar Umar, but is facing resistance from Australia due to its anti-death penalty stance.
In order for Australia to extradite Sirul, the law against the death penalty needed to be amended, said Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail.
“We want to bring Sirul back, but Australia is against the death penalty. To bring him back, the law has to be amended. We have to discuss whether the death penalty has to be amended or abolished,” she said at the EduWaqf programme organised by Awqaf Holdings Bhd in Bandar Baru Bangi, Selangor, yesterday.
Australia n High Commissioner to Malaysia Andrew Lech Goledzinowski said Australia was against the death penalty and would not be able to help police in cases that would result in it.
He said even if Australia had evidence that could help Malaysian police bring about a conviction in a serious crime, it could not help if it led to the application of the death penalty.
He said this at the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia’s National Conference on Death Penalty here on Thursday.
Sirul, a former policeman, was convicted of murdering Mongolian model Altantuya Shaariibuu.
He has expressed his willingness to a tell-all regarding the high-profile murder.
According to former Umno Batu Kawan division leader Datuk Seri Khairuddin Abu Hassan, Sirul wrote a letter to Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad. Khairuddin met Sirul at Villawood Detention Camp in Sydney, Australia, on June 28.
Sirul and former chief inspector Azilah Hadri were charged with killing Altantuya, a mother of two, on Oct 18, 2008.
The Court of Appeal had overturned their sentences in 2013. But the death sentences were upheld by the Federal Court following the prosecution’s appeal.
Sirul, however, fled to Australia before his conviction, where he has been held at the Immigration and Border Protection Department’s facility since 2015.