It is believed Sirul will leave Australia within a month and could face a new trial, potentially exposing links to senior leaders.
Australian authorities have approved a request from Malaysia to extradite a former prime ministerial bodyguard convicted of the murder of a Mongolian translator in a scandal that dogged Najib Razak’s time in office and transfixed the nation, the Guardian has learned.
A source said the Malaysian government had recently approached Australia to request that Sirul Azhar Umar be brought back to Malaysia, and that the plan had been given the green light after Malaysia agreed to cover the costs. It is believed Sirul will leave Australia within a month.
Any decision to return Sirul to Malaysia may suggest that the newly elected Malaysian government could be considering re-opening the case of Altantuya Shaariibuu’s death. Australia had previously refused to send Sirul back to Malaysia because he is facing the death penalty but it is understood that the Malaysian authorities have assured them he will receive fair treatment on his return.
Altantuya had allegedly been the lover of Najib’s close confidant Abdul Razak Baginda, and had begun demanding money from Baginda for her role in a government deal to buy French submarines, where Baginda had allegedly been given multimillion-euro kickbacks.
In October 2006, the pregnant Altantuya was abducted in front of Baginda’s Kuala Lumpur home and taken to a forest in Subang where she was shot twice with a semi-automatic weapon and her body was blown up with military-grade explosives.
Sirul and a fellow bodyguard, Azila Hadri, were charged with the murder and sentenced to death in 2009 but Sirul has denied carrying out the killing, saying that he was acting on orders from his superiors and was only involved in driving Altantuya to the scene. He alleged that Hadri was the one who murdered Altantuya. No motive for the killing was ever established and key witnesses were never called in the trial. – The Guardian
Related reports:
June 1, Australia Urged to Deport Sirul
May 30, Sirul Rejects Life Sentence Offer, Claims Did Not Kill Altantuya
May 26, MP Lodges Reports to Have Altantuya Case Reopened, Against Arul Kanda
May 23, 1MDB’s RM9.8B ‘Investments’ a Scam, Can’t Repay Debts
May 23, Police May Reopen Altantuya Case
May 20, Reject Sirul’s Demand of Pardon, but Here’s How We Get Him Back
May 15, Abdul Razak Baginda Denies Fleeing the Country
May 8, On Polling Eve, Altantuya’s Dad Reaches Out to Dr M