EX-COMMANDO Sirul Azhar Umar is still unable to confirm who gave the order for him to kill Mongolian model Altantuya Shaariibuu in October 2006.
In an interview with Al Jazeera, the former member of the Malaysian police’s Special Action Unit said he was aware that many are keen to know who ordered him to pull the trigger on the 28-year-old whose body was later blown up with C4 explosives.
“For many years, people in my country (have been) waiting (to hear) who gave the order. But until now, I cannot tell,” he was quoted as saying in the interview.
Sirul is presently in Australia where he failed to obtain asylum after being sentenced to death for murder in Malaysia. He was released from detention in Sydney earlier this month.
In 2009, Sirul and his accomplice, former chief inspector Azilah Hadri, were found guilty by the Shah Alam High Court for Altantuya’s murder.
Sirul said to Al Jazeera that he should not be held responsible for the murder despite being convicted by a Malaysian court.
He said he had been made a scapegoat and caught in a political game. He admitted to receiving RM1 million while in Australia from an unnamed source to "shut up".
Sirul appealed to the community in Australia to accept him. He said he has promised his son that he would never break the law there.
He reiterated that it is unsafe for him to return to Malaysia.
In May 2018, after Pakatan Harapan ousted Barisan Nasional from the government in the general election, Sirul had said that he was ordered by "important people" to murder Altantuya.
He was quoted by Malaysiakini as saying that his police work sometimes involved orders to kill. "I do it for the country as all is done under orders. That is how the unit works," he had told the portal.
He was also quoted as saying that he was ready to assist the new government in the Scorpene scandal, which had occurred under the previous government, on condition that he got a full pardon.
Earlier this month, Sirul was released from the immigration Villawood Detention Centre in Sydney after spending nine years in Immigration custody.
His release follows a Australian High Court decision on November 8 that non-citizen detainees cannot be held indefinitely.
In December last year Altantuya’s family was awarded RM5 million in damages by the Shah Alam High Court over the woman's death in 2006. The suit was filed against Azilah, Sirul, Najib, and the Malaysian government. – The Vibes, November 24, 2023
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