MALAYSIA has yet to put in an extradition request to Australia for Sirul Azhar Umar, said Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

He said Sirul does not want to come back to Malaysia because he fears that he will be hanged. 

“We haven’t put in (a request for extradition).

“When we reduce his sentence to life maybe he will come back,” he said at the Prime Minister’s Office today. 

Dr Mahathir was commenting on a report in The Guardian that the Australian government had approved Malaysia’s request to extradite Sirul, the former policeman who was convicted of murdering Mongolian translator Altantuya Shaariibuu.

He said Sirul’s sentence might be reduced from the death penalty to life imprisonment.

“If he fears for his life, we can’t do anything.

“If he fears that others might kill him, we can’t force Sirul to return to the country.”

Dr Mahathir said the government has been asked to looked into the Altantuya case.

The Guardian reported that Sirul could leave within a month, indicating that the Altantuya case, which has transfixed the nation with its allegations of extramarital affairs, murder, bribery and shady arms deals linked to former prime minister Najib Razak, might be reopened as the new Pakatan Harapan government goes all out to uncover the wrongdoings of the previous administration.

In 2009, Sirul and UTK, or police’s Special Action Unit, colleague Azilah Hadri were convicted of murdering Altantuya in 2006, and sentenced to death.

They were acquitted by the Court of Appeal in a controversial 2013 ruling.

Prosecutors appealed against the decision in the Federal Court, and Sirul subsequently fled to seek asylum in Australia, where he has been detained at the Villawood immigration detention facility.

In 2015, the Federal Court overturned the acquittal.

Previous Malaysian requests to bring back Sirul were turned down by Australia, as the country’s laws do not allow a person facing the death penalty to be extradited. – June 8, 2018.