KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 31 — Sirul Azhar Umar, the ex-elite force police commando sentenced to death for the 2006 murder of Mongolian model Altantuya Shaariibuu, is refusing to return to Malaysia, his lawyer said.
Hasnal Rezua Merican told Malay daily Sinar Harian that he met Sirul, who is currently placed at Sydney’s Villawood immigration detention centre on Monday, during which the convicted killer expressed his refusal to return home and face the gallows.
“Sirul did say that he does not want to come back. Anyone in his position would definitely not want to,” Hasnal was quoted saying in the January 27 report.
Hasnal was reportedly in Australia to try and secure Sirul’s release from Australian authorities.
He told the daily that during his meeting with Sirul, the topic on extradition was not discussed as the issue has not yet been raised.
Hasnal and another lawyer Kamarul Hisham Kamaruddin are the counsels representing Sirul.
In 2006, Sirul and another former policeman, Inspector Azilah Hadri, were charged with the murder of 28-year-old Altantuya Shaariibuu and convicted by the High Court in 2009.
They were acquitted by the Court of Appeal in 2013, before Federal Court overturned the decision and sentenced them to death on January 13.
Sirul did not appear at the Federal Court and was later revealed to be in Australia.
It was later reported that he was detained by immigration authorities in Queensland, Australia after Interpol issued a red notice following a request by Malaysia.
Home Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi has confirmed that the Malaysian police have sent a formal extradition request to Australia through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Australia’s extradition legislation prohibits an individual from being sent back to another country for an offence punishable by death, unless that country pledges not to carry out a death sentence.
