KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 14 — Kepong MP Lim Lip Eng has filed an emergency motion under Standing Orders 18(1) to urge the government to immediately seek to extradite Sirul Azhar Umar — one of two former police commandos convicted for the 2006 murder of Altantuya Shaariibuu in Selangor — from Australia.
The DAP lawmaker said in his motion that it is the government’s task to ensure that Sirul is brought back to face his sentence in Malaysia, in order to uphold justice.
“Therefore, the matter above fulfils Standing Order 18(1),” Lim wrote in the motion that was submitted to the Speaker’s office earlier today.
Earlier today, Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said Malaysia could only invoke an extradition agreement with Australia to bring Sirul back if he applies for a review his death penalty and has the sentence commuted.
Saifuddin said this is due to the element or principle of dual criminality that is used between Australia and Malaysia.
On Sunday, the police said they would discuss with relevant parties including the attorney-general and the courts the possibility of seeking repatriation for Sirul.
Guardian Australia reported Sirul was one of 92 men released from the country’s detention centres in what human rights lawyers deemed as a landmark ruling that would put an end to a two-decade immigration law that allowed the authorities to detain foreign citizens indefinitely who cannot be deported back.
Sirul’s lawyer, William Levingston, confirmed to the news outlet that Sirul had been released after the high court decision but could not be deported back to Malaysia.
Malay Mail previously reported lawyers saying Malaysia will not be able to get Australia to send Sirul back as long as his death sentence remains hanging over his head.
