Killer among released detainees after High Court ruling

Former elite Malaysian police bodyguard among 92 immigration detainees ordered released as a result of a High Court ruling that those who could not be deported could not be held indefinitely.

Sirul Azhar Umar spending time in Australia.

A former elite Malaysian police bodyguard sentenced to death for the politically charged murder of a young woman with alleged links to the country’s highest office has walked free from Sydney’s Villawood Detention Centre after nine years behind bars.

Sirul Azhar Umar is among 92 immigration detainees ordered released as a result of a High Court ruling last week that those who could not be deported could not be held indefinitely.

Sirul was detained in Australia in early 2015 after fleeing Malaysia three months earlier as he stood trial over the murder of pregnant Mongolian translator Altantuya Shaaribuu, a crime he claimed he committed under orders.

Her killing remains one of the country’s most notorious crimes thanks to the political intrigue and murky corruption networks it has always threatened to expose.

Now the release of the 50-year-old ex-commando – understood to be staying with his Australian-based son Shukri Azam Bin Sirul Azhar – raises questions over whether he will now reveal who ordered her murder, and how Australian authorities plan to deal with the convicted murderer.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong said on Sunday the government’s first priority in carrying out the High Court ruling was to “assure community safety”, and anyone released would be subject to strict visa conditions.

“People are being released with conditions and we will ensure that law enforcement authorities, federal and state, work together,” she said.

The Australian understands Malaysia’s High Commission to Australia was advised before Sirul’s release.

His Malaysia-based uncle Haji Mustafa told The Australian he was happy his nephew was finally free and vowed to “continue all efforts to clear Sirul’s name”.

Sirul and fellow police bodyguard Azilah Hadri were convicted of abducting Altantuya on October 19, 2006, outside the home of her former lover Razak Abdul Baginda, a close confidante of then defence minister Najib Razak and a key mediator in the corruption-tainted $US2 billion Scorpene submarine deal.

The 26-year-old mother of two was driven to the Shah Alam forest on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur, shot twice in the head and her body blown apart with C4 explosives.

It has long been speculated she was killed for threatening to reveal details of kickbacks paid to senior Malaysian officials by French shipbuilder DCNS during negotiations over the deal in which she occasionally acted as translator.

Both Sirul and Azilah – who is now on death row in Malaysia for the murder – were members of Najib’s security team at the time, though the now-jailed former PM has denied ever meeting her or any involvement in her death.

At his Malaysian trial, Sirul claimed he had acted under orders and was being “sacrificed” in order to protect powerful people.

Since his detention in Australia, he has lodged a series of unsuccessful applications for Australian protection visas alleging his life would be in danger if he was deported to Malaysia.

But he could not be deported under Australian law because he faced the death penalty back in Malaysia.

The Malaysian government ended mandatory death sentences last July but has not abolished capital punishment.

Razak Baginda, who was acquitted over Altantuya’s murder, was charged in France over alleged kickbacks related to the Scorpene deal.

Najib was never formally linked to the scandal but the former PM from 2009 to 2018 was jailed for 12 years in 2022 over his role in the $US4.5 billion 1MDB corruption scandal.

He is now pushing for a royal pardon which, if granted, could destabilise the current government of Anwar Ibrahim.

Some Malaysian analysts have speculated Sirul’s release could help shore up the government if he was to give a confession that implicated Najib.

“It may be that Sirul is a loose cannon now,” one commentator told The Australian. “I don’t think those involved anticipated this turn of events.”

But Najib’s lawyer Shafee Abdullah said Sirul’s release would cause his client no concern given “no evidence had even hinted that Najib Razak was in some way implicated” in the murder.