Sirul and mum reunite in Sydney, says Mahfuz
Convicted murderer Sirul Azhar Umar and his mother Piah Samad had a reunion at the immigration detention centre in Sydney, were he is being detained, PAS Information chief Datuk Mahfuz Omar said from Australia this evening.
The former police corporal who was found guilty of murdering Mongolian translator Altantuya Shaariibuu met his 72-year-old mother who arrived in Sydney yesterday, assisted by Mahfuz.
"Alhamdulilah he was cheerful in their meeting and was very happy because he got to eat sambal ikan bills," Mahfuz told The Malaysian Insider.
Mahfuz had told Malaysian journalists on Sunday night that he was helping Piah go to Australia to meet her son on "humanitarian" grounds, as she had not seen Sirul for a long time.
Sirul's sister, Noriatin, 37, was also able to visit him.
Mahfuz said most of the two-hour visit was for Sirul to spend time with his mother and sister, and they plan to visit him daily for as long as they are in Australia. They plan to leave on March 7.
Asked whether he spoke to Sirul about the Altantuya murder case, Mahfuz stressed that the visit was meant to be for the family.
"Nothing was said about the murder," said the Pokok Sena MP.
He said it was an emotional meeting, where Sirul appeared tough and cheerful while his mother was noticeably sad. But when it was time to leave, Mahfuz said Sirul started to waver.
"I could see that as we were leaving, his face changed and became filled with grief because he would again be alone in the detention centre," Mahfuz said.
Piah has told the media here that Australia would be a safer place for her son as he faces the death penalty in Malaysia.
Mahfuz had in the past week been promising the media here that Sirul would "tell all" in a teleconference to explain the facts of Altantuya's murder.
Sirul had reportedly claimed that he was acting under orders to kill Altantuya. He also told news portal Malaysiakini that several Australian media had asks for interviews with him, but that he had yet to decide on it.
Sirul had been absent when the Federal Court in January sentenced him and another former police commando, Chief Inspector Azilah Hadri, to death for the murder of Altantuya.
It was later discovered that Sirul had fled the country to Australia, where he was subsequently detained by the immigration authorities.
Australia has a policy of not extraditing criminals if they face the death sentence in their countries, and Malaysia is expected to make a formal extradition request. – March 3, 2015.
