Altantuya's family backs jail time for Azilah

(Editor’s note: The article has been rectified to state that the letter from Altantuya’s family supports Azilah’s death sentence be commuted and not that the family had forgiven him as initially reported. The error is regretted.)

Mongolian national Altantuya Shaariibuu’s family supports swapping the death sentence with jail time for her killer Azilah Hadri.

The Federal Court this morning was informed of this during the hearing of the former police commando's bid to swap his death sentence with life imprisonment over the murder that occurred 18 years ago.

Altantuya, 28, was murdered in a deserted area in Shah Alam, Selangor, in October 2006. Her remains were blown up with military-grade explosives.

During Azilah’s death penalty review proceedings today before the apex bench chaired by Chief Justice Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat, his counsel J Kuldeep Kumar read out a letter from the victim’s father.

"I am writing to formally request a commutation of Azilah’s sentence to life imprisonment. He was sentenced to death in 2006 for the murder of Altantuya, a citizen of Mongolia.

"I have previously addressed this matter in my letter to your prime minister,” Shaariibuu Setev wrote.

"It is crucial to recognise that the United Nations declares the sanctity of life, emphasising that all beings on this planet have a right to existence.

"My request stems from a deep respect for the humanity of Mongolians," he added.

In April 2009, the criminal court found Azilah and fellow police commando Sirul Azhar Umar guilty of Altantuya’s murder and sentenced them to death.

READ MORE: The Altantuya murder - a recap

Azilah, 48, is on death row at the Kajang Prison.

Sirul, however, flew to Australia before the Federal Court reversed an earlier Court of Appeal verdict that discharged and acquitted the two men and reinstated their conviction and death sentence in 2015.

For overstaying a tourist visa, Australian authorities detained Sirul. Australia has a policy of not deporting individuals facing the death penalty in their country of origin.

In November last year, the 52-year-old was released from immigration detention and is understood to still be in Australia.

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