KUALA LUMPUR, August 1 — Malaysia’s death penalty is a clear hindrance to any bid for Australia to repatriate convicted killer Sirul Azhar Umar, said Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail today.
After an official meeting with Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop, the Pandan MP also clarified that Putrajaya has not officially discussed the possibility with Canberra.
“We have to change our capital punishment law first to seek extradition because we know that they (Autralia) won’t extradite to a country that has capital punishment.
“As far as I know, the (Australian) foreign minister is right because I checked with the prime minister. There was no specific discussion of Sirul’s situation,” said Dr Wan Azizah, referring to Bishop’s earlier statement confirming Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s affirmation that Malaysia has not sought Sirul’s extradition.
Bishop said Australia was adamant that it may not send any individual to a destination where the death penalty may apply.
Sirul was convicted together with another former police commando, Azilah Hadri, of murdering Mongolian model Altantuya Shaariibuu.
However, he fled to Australia where he has been detained by Australian immigration in Sydney since 2015.
