There are two possible ways to bring senior lawyer VK Lingam back to Malaysia for him to serve the six-month jail term imposed on him for contempt, says lawyer Muhammad Rafique Rashid Ali.

Rafique said attorney-general Mohamed Apandi Ali could utilise the Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters Act 2002 (MLA), or inspector-general of police Mohamad Fuzi Harun could seek Interpol's help to arrest Lingam.

“A warrant of committal falls back on the attorney-general on how he wants to move forward in exercising the writ.

“He can utilise the MLA in countries which have ties to Malaysia. (With regard to) the whole action at the Federal Court, it is the Attorney-General’s Chambers that had asked for contempt (charges) against Lingam and the custodial sentence.

“The ball may fall back in Apandi's court on how he wants to execute the order. But he can use it via the MLA. There are provisions within the Act to ask for extradition,” Rafique said.

However, Rafique (photo) added that it is up to the country that Lingam is in to extradite the lawyer, and this may depend on whether the country has an extradition treaty with Malaysia.

Malaysiakini is still awaiting a response from Apandi, after contacting the former Federal Court judge last night to inquire as to whether he would utilise the MLA to execute the apex court order issued by the five-member bench yesterday.

Federal Court judge Justice Abu Samah Nordin yesterday ordered Lingam to serve a six-month jail term after finding him guilty of contempt.

This followed a request from senior federal counsel Alice Loke of the Attorney-General’s Chambers for a custodial sentence to be imposed upon Lingam, in relation to an allegation made against the Federal Court in the Kian Joo Can Factory Sdn Bhd (KJCF) case.

Lingam had represented the company’s former majority shareholders in the case, in which they alleged that the Federal Court judgment on the case against the company’s liquidators was plagiarised by the judge delivering the decision.

Loke told reporters yesterday that it would be the task of the police to track Lingam down to execute the order.

Rafique said Fuzi (photo) could also be roped in to utilise Interpol's help in tracking down Lingam's whereabouts by applying for a Red Notice.

“Even if Lingam resides in a country with which Malaysia has no extradition treaty, it can still be done,” he said.

The purpose of an Interpol Red Notice is to seek the location and arrest of a person wanted by a judicial jurisdiction or an international tribunal with a view to his extradition.

A Red Notice was previously issued for Corporal Sirul Azhar Umar, who was sentenced to death for the 2006 murder of Mongolian national Altantuya Shaaribuu. 

However, Sirul, who is currently being held at the Villawood Immigration Detention Centre in Sydney, cannot be deported as Australian laws prevent extraditions of those served with a death sentence.