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Sirul must lodge police report to reopen Altantuya murder case, says ex-top prosecutor

A retired senior prosecutor in the Attorney-General's Chambers (AGC) said police can only re-open the Altantuya Shaariibuu murder case if Sirul Azhar Umar, the former police commando convicted for her murder, lodges police report that he had acted under orders to commit the crime.

Datuk Stanley Isaacs, who once headed the AGC's prosecution division, said the police would then be dutybound to conduct an investigation.

"The police should be ready to reopen the file into the case which led to the acquittal of one (Abdul Razak Baginda) and the conviction of two others (Sirul and Chief Inspector Azilah Hadri)," Isaacs told The Malaysian Insider.

Isaacs said this in response to Sirul's claim in a Malaysiakini report yesterday that he had orders to kill Altantuya.

Sirul had also said he was contemplating to "tell all" on the gruesome murder of the Mongolian nine years ago.

"I was under orders. The important people with motive (to murder Altantuya) are still free,' he was reported to have said.

In a separate report today, Malaysiakini quoted Sirul as saying that he was adamant that he was following orders meant to safeguard the interest of the nation. For that, he said he now faces the death sentence.

"If I die today, I would not find peace, for I did what I was told. And this is what I get in return," he told Malaysiakini in a telephone conversation from Australia.

He added that Deputy Superintendent Musa Safri, who was his superior and former aide-de-camp of then deputy prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, should have been put on the witness stand by the prosecution.

The two men (hooded) convicted in the murder trial of Altantuya Shaariibuu mobbed by the media during a court appearance in 2009. – The Malaysian Insider file pic, February 18, 2015.
The two men (hooded) convicted in the murder trial of Altantuya Shaariibuu mobbed by the media during a court appearance in 2009. – The Malaysian Insider file pic, February 18, 2015.

Isaacs said if Sirul had indeed stated that he was willing to come clean on the Altantuya saga, he should do so without hesitation so that the whole truth behind the murder may be known.

"This is about real justice," said Isaacs who is now a practising lawyer.

He said if Sirul reveals that he killed and disposed the woman's body under orders, this would require that he lodge a police report, as stated in the Criminal Procedure Code.

Earlier today, however, Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar ruled out any new investigation into the murder, saying Sirul could be influenced by certain parties.

Khalid questioned why Sirul did not reveal all during the trial.

"Why does he want to tell all now? This is illogical," Khalid had said.

"I'm worried there are interested parties who are trying to influence him to tell something which is not true."

Isaacs said Altantuya's family and the public would want to know who the "superior authority" was and for the law to act accordingly.

"It was a high profile murder, with great deal of public and international disquiet on the final outcome. I would expect the attorney-general to be ready and quick to order a full investigation," he said.

Isaacs said Sirul could make a police report and provide full assistance to the Malaysian police, even from outside the country.

He said it was unfortunate and regrettable that Sirul did not bring this out during his defence in the trial.

"He has thereby prevented justice from taking its full course. However, even if it's true that he murdered Altantuya under orders, it does not mean he is innocent or free from the offence," he said.

At best, Isaacs said, superior orders could only mitigate the offence he committed.

Sirul (pic, left), who is now in Australia, told Malaysiakini that the country's media were asking him to "tell all", and that he was seriously considering it.

He is now being held at the Immigration and Border Protection Department facility in Sydney after his arrest in Queensland on January 20, following a red alert issued by Interpol.

A five-man Federal Court bench led by Chief Justice Tun Arifin Zakaria last month sentenced Sirul and Azilah to the gallows, overturning a 2013 Court of Appeal ruling over the killing of Altantuya, who was Razak Baginda's lover.

Sirul was not present when the verdict was delivered and subsequent news report revealed that he had left for Australia last October.

Despite the conviction, the motive for the murder was never revealed.

Sirul, 43, also revealed that he never knew Altantuya or even Razak, the political analyst and a confidante of Najib.

Razak was acquitted with abetting in the crime.

Evidence in court revealed that Altantuya, also a Mongolian translator, was murdered before her body was blown up by C4 explosives on October 18, 2006, in the outskirts of Shah Alam.

Australia had signed an extradition treaty with Malaysia in 2006 but is unlikely to deport Sirul, as Australian laws prohibit convicts on death penalty to be extradited back to their country.

Meanwhile former A-G Tan Sri Abu Talib Othman (pic, right) said Sirul should "tell all" to the Selangor Pardons Board to avoid the gallows.

Talib said nothing would change if Sirul decided to talk now since the judicial process was completed.

"Actually, the Pardons Board is the final court of clemency although it cannot substitute the finding of guilt to that of not guilty.

"Under our Federal Constitution, no death can be executed without going to a Pardons Board," he told The Malaysian Insider

He said their lawyers could write to the Sultan of Selangor, the board chairman and extend a copy to the menteri besar who is member of the organisation.

"The board can consider any relevant matter in coming to a just decision as to whether the death sentence should be executed," he added.

Talib, who served as A-G between 1980 and 1993, said the board was not bound by the opinion of the present A-G although it must consider his advice. - February 18, 2015.