PUTRAJAYA: Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has denied reports that Malaysia had requested Australian authorities extradite convicted killer Sirul Azhar Umar.
“No, we did not request for an extradition,” he said when asked to confirmed a report by The Guardian that said the former police officer would be returning to Malaysia.
Dr Mahathir however said the Government will consider the possibility of commuting Sirul's death sentence to life imprisonment.
“We might cancel his execution. Maybe we will reduce the sentence from death to life in prison,” he said.
When asked if the Government will reopen the murder case of Mongolian model Altantuya Shaariibuu, Dr Mahathir said that “we are looking into it”.
According to The Guardian, Australian authorities had approved Malaysia's request to extradite Sirul and he is expected to return to the country within a month.
Citing sources, the UK daily reported that Malaysia has agreed to cover the cost of returning him to Malaysia.
Australia previously refused the extradition of Sirul as it violated the country's laws of not sending home a person facing the death sentence.
However, the UK report said Malaysian authorities had assured their Australian counterparts that Sirul would receive fair treatment when he returns.
In 2013, the Court of Appeal overturned the sentences of Sirul and Azilah Hadrim, his accomplice back then.
But, upon the prosecution's appeal, the death sentences were upheld by the Federal Court.
Sirul then fled to Australia where he was detained by the Australian Immigration after Interpol issued a red notice on him.
Altantuya, 28, was believed to have been shot dead before her body was blown to bits with explosives at a secondary forest near the Subang Dam in Puncak Alam, Shah Alam, in 2006.
On May 16, Mongolian President Khaltmaagiin Battulga wrote to Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad to ask him to help bring justice in the case of Altantuya.
PKR adviser Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has suggested that Sirul be brought back to Malaysia for a fresh trial.
