As long as death penalty on our books Sirul unlikely to return: Ex-Bar chief

Australia will unlikely extradite convicted murderer Sirul Azhar Umar as long as the death penalty remains part of Malaysian law, said former Bar president Salim Bashir.

This came after Altantuya Shaariibuu’s family sought an immediate update from Attorney-General (AG) Ahmad Terrirudin Mohd Salleh on his next steps in extraditing the former police commando, following the sentence commutation of Sirul’s fellow accused Azilah Hadri.

Sirul fled to Australia after his conviction in the murder of the Mongolian national in 2015 where he remains.

According to Free Malaysia Today, Salim (above) said it is Australia’s policy not to extradite foreigners facing the death penalty in their home country, in line with its international human rights obligations.

The death penalty is still part of Malaysian law despite judges now being given the discretion to commute the punishment to life imprisonment, he added.

On Oct 10, the Federal Court allowed Azilah’s application to commute his death sentence to 40 years imprisonment and 12 strokes of the rotan, effective from the date of his arrest.

However, Sirul has not applied for a resentencing, meaning that his death sentence is technically applicable even though Malaysia has had a moratorium on the death penalty since July 2018.

The Shaariibuu family lawyer, Sangeet Kaur Deo, said yesterday that the AG has no excuse for further delay, and urged him to act quickly and decisively in securing Sirul’s immediate return to face his sentence.

Sirul spent years under Australian immigration detention for overstaying a tourist visa.

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

Questions over unchallenged affidavit

The Shaariibuu family was also demanding answers over an unchallenged affidavit filed by Azilah as part of his application to commute his death sentence to life imprisonment.

"The additional affidavit includes uncontested claims that Azilah acted under explicit instructions, a fact left unchallenged by the public prosecutor, raising serious questions about the AG’s actions.

"The family demands to know if these allegations have been investigated and if not, why they remain unaddressed," Sangeet said.

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