Background on Sirul and the Altantuya case

KPL Sirul Azhar Umar and chief inspector Azilah Hadri were both convicted in Malaysia in 2009 for the murder of Mongolian national Altantuya Shaariibuu in October 2006.

In a widely publicised case, Altantuya was found to have been abducted and murdered in Shah Alam, with her remains blown up with explosives.

Sirul and Azilah, two of former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s bodyguards, had initially had their conviction in the High Court overturned by the Court of Appeal in 2013.

During the period when the prosecution appealed the decision, Sirul fled to Australia.

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In 2015, the Federal Court upheld the High Court’s conviction, and reinstated the death penalty on both men.

Sirul was later apprehended by Australian Immigration in January 2015, while Azilah had been in jail as a death row inmate since the Federal Court’s decision.

Former political analyst Abdul Razak Baginda, who was charged together with Sirul and Azilah, was earlier freed on Oct 31, 2008, after the court did not find solid proof against him.

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On Nov 8, the Australian High Court ruled that the indefinite detention by the Immigration Department is unlawful, and freed Sirul along with others.

However, extraditing him back to Malaysia is a complicated matter as Australia has a policy of not deporting people to countries where they may face the death penalty.

On Dec 16 last year, High Court Judge Datuk Vazeer Alam Mydin Meera (now Court of Appeal judge) ordered Azilah, Sirul, Abdul Razak, and the Federal Government to jointly pay RM5mil in general, aggravated and exemplary damages to Altantuya’s family after they filed a civil suit.