The unending saga of Altantuya killers...

The unending saga of Altantuya killers....

I knew about Sirul's release from Villawood Detention Centre, early yesterday evening. This is not totally unexpected given the Australian High Court, last Friday, ruled that indefinite detention for people like Sirul, was "unlawful" if deportation was not an option.

That applied to Sirul because even though he had entered Australia under false pretence (he did not inform Australian Immigration that he had been a convicted felon) deportation was not an option because Malaysia was going to hang him for his deeds - and Australia would not send anybody home to be hanged...for whatever reason.

And so yesterday, Sirul was among the first batch of detainees released. Sirul is now a free man spending his first day of freedom in Canberra, with his son, Azam. I wish him the best. He has spent over a decade in detention for doing what he thought was his job as a Unit Tindakan Khas operative - killing someone on orders from his superior. He was following orders.

After the deed, when he was arrested in Pakistan, he did ask upon landing at KLIA : "Kenapa dia orang tak cover aku?" That question by Sirul tells us that as far as he was concerned, he was doing a job he was trained to do and he was perplexed that UTK had not provided him with a cover for his 'work' in murdering Altantuya.

Now fast forward to today. What will happen to him now?

Sirul wants to stay in Australia and what happens now will be a matter for the Australian government to decide. The Malaysian government might ask to extradite Sirul and give an assurance to the Australian government that Sirul will not be hanged for his deed. It will be up to the Australian government to decide. Sirul will certainly ask for asylum in Australia. It will be up to the Australian government to decide.

Sirul may ask for asylum in another country. It will be up to the Australian Government to decide if they will allow him to go to that country. All that we can hope is that Sirul will have the right people to advise him on what to do in order to get the decision he wants for himself and his son Azam - whose fate, to stay or not to stay in Australia, will depend on what fate has been decided for Sirul by the powers that be.

What happens to the people in Malaysia, who, in one way or another, have been 'involved' in Sirul's case? If they have done the right thing by Sirul, no problems. Those who have helped him through the difficult times in the past decades will have his gratitude. I know there are a few people who have stood by him all this while and to them, I am sure, Sirul will again turn for help for him to face the future.

To those who have profited from the woes and problems of Sirul....a word of advice....watch your backs. They know who they are and I know who they are. There are a few Datuks among them. A few lawyers. They know who they are and I know who they are. Among them is Rizal Mansor.....Rosmah's former aide turned prosecution witness against Rosmah. This Rizal Mansor must feel a bit restless now that Sirul is out. Why he is restless? I know and Rizal knows and a few others who donated towards Sirul's defence funds...also know....so that is why Rizal is restless. Najib really has nothing to worry about as far as Sirul is concerned. Why not?

Common sense will tell you that there is nothing Sirul can do to make life more miserable for Najib. Kepit Man is already in jail. He is already facing millions in fines and hundreds of millions that he still has to pay to LHDN. And if God is unkind, his wife will soon join him in Kajang....so for Kepit Man aka BossKu aka ex Perdana Menteri of Malaysia, Sirul is less of a worry to him than the mosquitoes at Kajang.

Let us all wait and see what the next few weeks or months will bring to the fate of Sirul. He has gone through so much personal pain and suffering for having carried out what he thought was a job that he was trained to do, as a UTK operative. Enough said. - Hussein Abdul Hamid

Will Sirul return, corroborate

claims of Altantuya murder?...

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. He 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.

Australian 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. - R Nadeswaran

Malaysia only abolished the mandatory death sentence. The judges can still pronounce death sentences. Furthermore Sirul is now still carrying the death sentence which was reinstated by the Federal Court - Anonymous47029368

Many must have wondered why it is taking so long for Malaysian authorities to bring this convicted murderer back to the country to face the consequences of his crime. Is it the Najib factor or does it involve politics of keeping secrets for political gains? Sirul's case seemed to be frozen in time and forgotten by the authorities and the Malaysian government. - BlueShark1548

It is not really over. Sirul maybe freed from detention, but he has not been granted any form of asylum or citizenship yet. There are a few issues that the Aussie Gormen needs to work out. As this the first instant of such a release by their courts. Community safety is one. He is probably confined to his son's place in the mean time. He has no valid document by now. Anyway on our side a decision is forth coming in 2 days. Let's see what our AG decides. Bring him back with reassurance of the death sentence will not be applied or let the Aussie Gomen decide what they want to do. - Maya

If you are Sirul, do you want to come back? I guessed that someone will not be getting good night sleep from now on. Nightmares are coming when he closes his eyes. - I disagree