FORMER chief inspector Azilah Hadri escaped the gallows after the Putrajaya Federal Court commuted his death sentence to 40 years' imprisonment for murdering Mongolian model Altantuya Shaariibuu in 2006.
A three-judge panel led by Chief Justice Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat substituted his death sentence to 40 years in jail, effective from his date of arrest, and 12 strokes of the rotan.
Azilah was convicted in 2009 for the murder of Altantuya.
This follows the passing of the Abolition of Mandatory Death Penalty Act 2023, which took effect on July 4, last year.
Under the new law, judges now have the discretion to impose either the death penalty or imprisonment of not less than 30 years and up to 40 years.
Azilah was aged 30 and the chief inspector with the police’s special action unit (UTK) when he was charged with the murder, and was aged 39 when the Federal Court decided that both he and fellow police commando Sirul Azhar Umar are guilty of the crime.
At the time of Azilah’s conviction for murdering Altantuya, the punishment under the Penal Code’s Section 302 was a mandatory death sentence. This means the courts had no discretion to hand down alternative sentences.
In the unanimous decision, Tengku Maimun said there were strong mitigating factors and valid reasons for the court to exercise its discretion in favour of the applicant.
"We set aside the death sentence and substitute it with imprisonment for 40 years from the date of arrest on Nov 1, 2006, excluding the period where the applicant was released by the Court of Appeal, and 12 strokes (of the rotan)," she said.
Altantuya, 28, was murdered in a deserted area in Shah Alam, Selangor, in October 2006 and her remains were blown up with military-grade explosives.
Azilah, 48, stands among the final batch of death row prisoners who are trying to have their death sentence commuted to lifetime imprisonment, which now means 30 to 40 years in jail.
The Federal Court panel hearing Azilah’s application is also composed of the President of the Court of Appeal Datuk Abang Iskandar Abang Hashim and Federal Court judge Datuk Nordin Hassan.
In 2009, the Shah Alam High Court imposed the death penalty against the duo after finding them guilty of murdering Altantuya.
However, the duo were then unanimously acquitted by a three-member Court of Appeal bench led by Tan Sri Mohamed Apandi Ali, where present Chief Justice (CJ) Tun Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat wrote the judgement in freeing them on Aug 23, 2013.
In a turn of events, a five-member bench led by then CJ Tun Arifin Zakaria unanimously reversed the appellate court decision on Jan 13, 2015, resulting in Azilah facing the death sentence while Sirul had left the country for Australia, where he had been detained under Australian immigration law until his release late last year there. - October 10, 2024
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