FORMER police officer Sirul Azhar Umar, who was convicted of murdering interpreter Altantuya Shaariibuu, is willing to tell all about the case if he is given a full pardon.

Sirul, who maintained his innocence, told Malaysiakini in an interview that he should be considered a political detainee.

“I am willing to assist the new government and tell what actually transpired, provided that the government grants me (a) full pardon,” he said from the Immigration and Border Protection Department’s facility in Sydney, Australia, where he has been held for the last three years.

Sirul left Malaysia ahead of the federal court verdict convicting him and another former policeman, Azilah Hadi, in January 2015.

Azilah is now on death row in Malaysia and has applied for a pardon.

There have been calls for the new Pakatan Harapan government to reopen the Altantuya murder case since the coalition won the May 9 general election.

Just-released de facto PKR leader Anwar Ibrahim had also told Australian media that Sirul deserved a fresh trial as the judges hearing his case had been “compromised”.

Altantuya had been linked to defeated prime minister Najib Razak and his close associate, Abdul Razak Baginda, in a deal to purchase Scorpene submarines from France while Najib was defence minister.

She was murdered at a secluded part of Puncak Alam between 10pm on Oct 19, 2006 and 1.30am the following day.

Sirul told Malaysiakini that the Altantuya case was his only alleged crime and that he otherwise had a clean record.

He reiterated that his trial had been conducted unfairly as the main witness, Najib’s then aide-de-camp Musa Safri, was not called.

The court of appeal had acquitted both Sirul and Azilah, but the federal court overturned that decision. – May 19, 2018.