KUALA LUMPUR – Lawyers representing the family of murdered Mongolian woman Altantuya Shaariibuu are urging authorities to investigate allegations made in former police commando Azilah Hadri’s unrebutted affidavit.
Sangeet Kaur, acting for Altantuya’s father Shaariibuu Setev, also called upon Putrajaya to extradite Sirul Azhar from Australia, another police officer who was convicted of murdering Altantuya alongside Azilah.
In a press statement, Sangeet pointed out that it is significant that the affidavit by Azilah affirming that he was acting under orders when he murdered Altantuya was not challenged by the public prosecutor.
Altantuya’s family is demanding that the Attorney-General’s Chambers reveal whether authorities have conducted investigations into Azilah’s claims, Sangeet added.
“Any hesitation or selective application of the law (or perception thereof) will rightly, erode public trust and confidence in the office of the attorney-general,” Sangeet said.
With regards to Sirul who has sought asylum in Australia, Sangeet also sought an update from the government on whether they intend to extradite the fugitive following recent legal amendments to the mandatory death penalty.
Any failure to secure Sirul’s return, Sangeet said, reinforces the perception that the Malaysian legal system protects the powerful.
Last week, a three-judge panel at the Federal Court led by Chief Justice Tun Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat, unanimously accepted Azilah’s appeal for his death sentence to be commuted.
In delivering its verdict, the bench, which also comprises Court of Appeal president Datuk Abang Iskandar Abang Hashim and Federal Court judge Datuk Nordin Hassan, said that a supporting letter from Altantuya’s father backing Azilah’s bid for life imprisonment was taken by the panel as a strong mitigating factor.
In mitigating arguments, Azilah’s lawyer J. Kuldeep Kumar also submitted that at the time of Altantuya’s murder, his client had acted as a police officer who had received instructions from his superiors.
Azilah filed his death sentence review bid after Parliament passed the Abolition of Mandatory Death Penalty Act 2023 in July last year, giving judges discretion to impose life imprisonment between 30 to 40 years instead of a mandatory death sentence for crimes such as murder and drug trafficking.
In 2009, three years after Azilah and Sirul were charged at the Shah Alam High Court, both were convicted of murdering Altantuya.
In 2013, the duo succeeded in overturning their conviction at the appellate court after a three-member panel, which included Tengku Maimun, found the conviction to be “unsafe”.
The Federal Court in 2015 led by the then-chief justice Tun Arifin Zakaria restored their conviction and reinstated their death sentence.
Before the 2015 ruling, Sirul fled to Australia, where he remains due to the country’s anti-death penalty laws preventing it from extraditing individuals who could face the death sentence in their home country. – October 14, 2024
