• Former police commando Azilah Hadri, convicted of the 2006 murder of Altantuya Shaariibuu, is awaiting a Federal Court decision on whether his death sentence will be commuted to a prison term under the Abolition of Mandatory Death Penalty Act.
  • Azilah’s death sentence review follows the July 2023 law that gives judges discretion to impose prison terms of 30 to 40 years instead of mandatory death for crimes like murder, while his co-convict Sirul Azhar remains in Australia due to its anti-death penalty laws.

PUTRAJAYA, Oct 10 — For the past nine years, former police commando Azilah Hadri has remained on death row in Sungai Buloh prison over the 2006 murder of Mongolian national Altantuya Shaariibuu.

Today, the 48-year-old will know if the Federal Court would allow for his death sentence to be commuted to lifetime imprisonment of between 30 to 40 years.

Why is his death sentence being reviewed now?

Azilah’s application to review his death sentence follows the Abolition of Mandatory Death Penalty Act, which came into force on July 4, 2023, where mandatory death sentences for offences such as drug trafficking and murder have been removed.

Under this new law, judges have the discretion to impose either the death penalty or a prison sentence for a period of not less than 30 years and up to 40 years.

If they are not sentenced to death, they shall also be punished with whipping of not less than 12 strokes for male convicts below 50 years of age.

The review of prisoners who are on death row began in November 2023, when the first batch of inmates — who had exhausted all available appeals — had their death sentence and natural-life imprisonment commuted with life imprisonment.

For today’s Federal Court hearing, Azilah is expected to be represented by his lawyer J Kuldeep Kumar, while Sangeet Kaur Deo is expected to hold a watching brief for Altantuya’s father Shaariibuu Setev.

File photo of ex-policemen Azilah Hadri and Sirul Azhar Umar (heads covered). The Court of Appeal in Putrajaya on August 23, 2013 overturned their conviction of murdering Mongolian model Altantuya Shaariibuu. - Reuters pic
File photo of ex-policemen Azilah Hadri and Sirul Azhar Umar (heads covered). The Court of Appeal in Putrajaya on August 23, 2013 overturned their conviction of murdering Mongolian model Altantuya Shaariibuu. - Reuters pic

In December 2019, Azilah had applied for a retrial and review of his 2015 conviction, but a five-man Federal Court panel led by then Chief Judge of Malaya Tan Sri Azahar Mohamed unanimously dismissed his application.

For Altantuya’s murder, Azilah was convicted alongside Corporal Sirul Azhar Umar of murdering her in the early morning of Oct 19, 2006, on top of a forest hill in Puncak Alam, Selangor.

The two were initially found guilty of murdering Altantuya, while political analyst Abdul Razak Baginda was acquitted by Shah Alam High Court.

In January 2015, the Federal Court reversed the Court of Appeal’s August 2013 acquittal of Azilah and Sirul, reinstating the High Court’s April 2009 conviction and mandatory death sentence on the duo over Altantuya’s murder.

Sirul ran away to Australia in 2015 where he had been detained under Australian immigration law. The country has laws that prohibit it from sending back anyone within its borders who face the death penalty in their home country.

He remains wanted in Malaysia and is currently being watched by Australian authorities after being released in November 2023 following a landmark ruling that ended a two-decade immigration law that allowed the Australian authorities to detain foreign citizens indefinitely who cannot be deported back.

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