HITMAN Sirul Azhar Umar, who was recently released from an immigration detention centre in Australia, has been fitted with an electronic monitoring device, helping the authorities to keep tabs on his whereabouts, Free Malaysia Today reports.

Following the High Court ruling in Australia on unlawful indefinite immigration detention, Sirul was among 140 non-Australians released.

The Australian Border Force (ABF) said a vast majority of them were fitted with the device and placed under curfew to restrict movement.

However, ABF said it could not comment on specific cases but according to sources, the former police commando is among those whose movement is restricted. 

In an email response to the news portal, an ABF spokesman said the electronic monitoring devices and curfew were among the requirements in the recently amended Migration Act and Migration Regulations. 

The representative said those convicted for violent crimes like murder, rape and paedophilia are required to wear such bracelets, adhere to strict curfews and comply with “reporting and engagement requirements”. 

No explanation was given on what is meant by “reporting and engagement requirements”.

The ABF spokesman added that stringent mandatory visa conditions had been imposed to restrict their access to work with children and other vulnerable people. 

On whether the Australian government was considering applying terrorism laws on those freed in order to re-arrest them, the spokesman said this was for the government to decide.

According to Australian news reports, the government is mulling to apply terrorism laws on some of the most violent among the offenders who were released.  

Sirul fled to Australia after being sentenced to death for one of Malaysia’s most notorious crimes but had his asylum claim rejected in 2019, leading to his detention in Sydney.

The Shah Alam High Court previously convicted him of killing model cum translator Altantuya Shaariibuu and blowing up her body with explosives. She had been pregnant at the time. 

Altantuya was the lover of Abdul Razak Baginda, a political analyst and close associate of former prime minister Najib Razak. 

At the time of the murder, Sirul had been a member of the police security detail for Najib, who was then defence minister. 

Also convicted with Sirul was Azilah Hadri, who is on death row in Malaysia.

Sirul’s son had in May appealed to the Australian government to grant political asylum to his father. He said he feared his father would be assassinated if he returned to Malaysia.

Due to Australian laws prohibiting the repatriation of individuals facing the death sentence in their countries of origin, Sirul is not subject to deportation to Malaysia. – November 28, 2023.