KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 17 — A close relative of Sirul Azhar Umar, one of the policemen found guilty of Mongolian national Altantuya Shaariibuu's 2006 murder, hopes that he will not return home to Malaysia and remain in Australia for his own good.
“I don't want Sirul Azhar to come home, let him stay in Australia,” the 48-year-old unnamed male relative told Utusan Malaysia in a report published today.
The relative told the Malay daily that there is no reason for Sirul Azhar to return to Malaysia if he has to face the death sentence.
In fact, he added that it would be better for the 52-year-old father of two to start a new life in Australia, rather than to face the death sentence here.
“Even his own son won't let him go home (return to Malaysia), so let him stay there. Even if he comes back, it's like a trap waiting for him.
“Anyway, the decision is in his hands and it's up to him. As long as he is safe,” the relative said when met at Sirul Azhar’s hometown in Changkat Jering, Taiping yesterday.
He was commenting on Sirul Azhar, a convicted ex-police bodyguard of former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, who was released from the Villawood Immigration Detention Center in Sydney, Australia on November 11.
According to the relative, the last time he saw Sirul Azhar was after he was released and acquitted by the Court of Appeal in 2013 for killing Altantuya.
He follows Sirul Azhar’s progress from the news and other family members.
Other than that, the relative said he has never been in contact with Sirul Azhar, a Special Action Unit (UTK) policeman, including his son who is also in Australia.
“Sirul Azhar’s mother is also old and she has forgotten (the events), but what mother is willing to see her child arrested? As a family, I just hope he is safe,” he was quoted saying in the report.
Meanwhile, Sirul Azhar’s younger sister, who only wants to be known as Nisa, also hopes that her brother remains safe after his release from detention in Australia.
“It is true that we have not seen or heard of any news from him for a long time.
“Of course we miss him. We will always pray for him to be safe,” she was quoted as saying in the same report.
On Sunday, it was reported that Sirul Azhar is a free man in Australia after a High Court there ruled against indefinite detention.
News outlet Guardian Australia reported that Sirul Azhar was one of 92 men released from the country’s detention centres on November 8 in what human rights lawyers deemed as a landmark ruling that would put an end to a two-decade immigration law that allowed the authorities to detain foreign citizens indefinitely who cannot be deported back.
Sirul Azhar has been detained for nine years in Australia since 2015.
On Tuesday, Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said Malaysia could only invoke an extradition agreement with Australia to bring Sirul Azhar back if he applies for a review of his death penalty and has the sentence commuted.
The minister said that this is due to the element or principle of dual criminality that is used between Australia and Malaysia.
On Sunday, the police said they would discuss with relevant parties including the attorney-general and the courts on the possibility of seeking repatriation for Sirul Azhar.
