Visa row: Father’s shock as detained killer set free

The father of a woman murdered by a Malaysian hit man reveals he was kept in the dark over the killer’s release, as Labor figures lash the government for backing tough restrictions on freed detainees.

Shaariibuu Setev, the father of Altantuya Shaariibuu, who was murdered by Sirul Azhar Umar. Picture: Uugansukh Byamba

The father of a woman murdered by a Malaysian hit man has ­revealed he was kept in the dark over the killer’s release, as senior Labor figures lashed the Albanese government for backing tough, Coalition-authored restrictions on dozens of criminals freed from immigration detention.

Mongolian film professor Shaariibuu Setev expressed shock at learning from The Weekend Australian that his daughter’s ­killer, Sirul Azhar Umar, was now walking free in Canberra, saying he was “so disappointed in Australia”.

Sirul is among 87 hardened foreign criminals now released following a High Court ruling that quashed indefinite detention, while another five are on the verge of being freed.

A day after Labor capitulated to Peter Dutton to impose strict new controls over the released ­detainees, Anthony Albanese ­declared in San Francisco that he was “fully involved” in green lighting the measures, which were agreed when he was overseas.

The measures passed on Thursday night require mandatory electronic monitoring and curfews for the freed non-citizens, while banning them from going near children or contacting their victims. Those who breach the conditions will face mandatory sentences of a year in prison for each day they violate them.

It emerged in documents released to the Senate on Friday that 27 of the foreigners committed “very serious” crimes against children or women, or high-level violent crimes.

A further 35 are subject to ­adverse character rulings following “violent, sexual or exploitative offences”, while 21 are subject to national security, cyber crime, ­organised crime or gang-related orders.

Professor Shaariibuu struggled for words when told Sirul, who killed his pregnant daughter ­before blowing her body up with military explosives, was now reunited with his son in Australia.

Murder victim Altantuya Shaariibuu.

Hit man Sirul Azhar Umar.

“I never imagined Australia would release him,” the shattered father told The Weekend Australian from Ulaanbataar.

But Labor figures railed against strict new conditions imposed on Sirul and other freed immigration detainees, zeroing in on new mandatory sentences for visa breaches, which contradict the ALP platform.

Australian Manufacturing Workers Union national secretary Steve Murphy said the cave-in on mandatory sentencing “undermines the independence of the judiciary” and could lead to “unjust outcomes”.

“Peter Dutton’s lack of ­humanity is no reason for Labor to lose its heart and its compass, or to ignore its own party platform,” Mr Murphy said.

Slater and Gordon lawyer and Victorian Left-faction assistant secretary Julijana Todorovic also condemned the compromise, saying mandatory detention was “classist” and violated key Labor principles.

“If the government is so quick to act against the platform … at the drop of a hat, or the result of a court case, then that is really alarming around issues for health and housing,” she said. “It alerts union and party activists to the government’s willingness to act contrary to the platform if it feels under political pressure.”

The political deal came just months after the ALP’s national conference reiterated the party’s clear opposition to mandatory sentencing.

“Labor opposes mandatory sentencing,” the party’s platform states. “This practice does not reduce crime but does undermine the independence of the judiciary, lead to unjust outcomes and is often discriminatory in practice.”

Former senator and Left-faction powerbroker Kim Carr said the deal with the Opposition would alarm rank and file members.

“People will be very disappointed because it is a breach of the Labor platform and an abandonment of our own principles,” Mr Carr said. “It will be noticed.”

A senior minister said the government’s position had been consistent with the platform but “accommodations had to be made”.

Left-faction backbenchers MPs Brian Mitchell and Maria Vamvakinou defended Labor’s response to the urgent policy challenge.

Mr Mitchell said Labor agreed to the opposition amendments so the bill would have a “smooth passage through parliament”.

“We are determined to keep people safe. We were faced with an extraordinary set of circumstances,” he said.

Ms Vamvakinou said the decision was driven by the “exceptional circumstances of the people involved”.

Other Labor MPs expressed disappointment at the policy shift, saying the government had been caught flat-footed by the High Court ruling, giving the impression it was out of touch with community concerns.

One said it would be a “career ending” move to speak publicly about the cobbled together deal.

Professor Shaariibuu said he had not been informed by any Australian government representative that his daughter’s killer was among the 84 criminal detainees released so far.

“Where is the human right for the victim’s family? We are right here, we are still alive and suffering,” he told the Weekend Australian" There is a Mongolian embassy in Australia, an Australian embassy in Mongolia. Noone has contacted me. When will the Australian government send an apology to me?

“I really wonder why Australia releases a murderer. It makes me think all the murderers of the world can go to Australia, spend time in immigration detention and eventually be released and become free men.”

His daughter Altantuya Shaariibuu, a Mongolian mother-of-two, was driven to a forest on the edge of Kuala Lumpur and shot twice in the head as she begged for her life.

Sirul maintained he abducted Ms Shaariibuu from outside the Kuala Lumpur home of her ex-lover in October 2006 on the orders of powerful people.

The documents tabled in the Senate revealed 85 per cent of the released criminal detainees cannot be deported due to legal protection findings, while 15 per cent are stateless or unable to be removed for reasons beyond Australia’s control.

The documents reveal Afghans make up the biggest nationality group among the cohort (19), followed by Iranians (17) and Sudanese (10).

Six of them have been in detention for more than a decade, while more than half have been detained for more than five years.

The Coalition warned the agreed new visa conditions, while a necessary stopgap measure, were insufficient to ensure community safety.

It called on the government to introduce new “preventative detention” measures to keep the foreign criminals off the streets.

“I think Australians are genuinely at risk because these are people who have demonstrated that they don’t have any regard for the law, or for victims, or for their rights, and I think that there is a very, very high chance that they will offend again,” Mr Dutton said.

Law Council of Australia president Luke Murphy called for an urgent parliamentary review of the “mandatory sentences and draconian limitations” over the liberty of those released.

“While parliament elected to fast track the Bill without adequate scrutiny, we think a review must now occur. The review needs to be based on agreed objectives of community safety while ensuring regard to rule of law and human rights principles,” he said. “The Law Council has consistently opposed the use of mandatory sentencing regimes, which prescribe mandatory minimum sentences upon conviction for criminal offences.”

Additional reporting: Ewin Hannan, Khaliun Bayartsogt