<\/p>\n
Man convicted in murder case that rocked Malaysia claims paid for silence | Politics<\/p>\n
Canberra, Australia \u2013 <\/strong>For the past nine years, Sirul Azhar Umar, 52, was locked up in an Australian detention centre for overstaying a tourist visa.<\/p>\n On November 8, 2023, Australia\u2019s High Court ruled it was illegal to indefinitely detain non-citizens who couldn\u2019t be deported.<\/p>\n The former policeman was one such detainee and was subsequently freed. Sirul was sentenced to death in his homeland of Malaysia for the brutal murder of a 28-year-old Mongolian translator in 2006, but Australian law forbids the return of foreigners to countries where they face the death penalty.<\/p>\n Now living in Australia\u2019s capital, Canberra, with his 23-year-old son, for the first time, Sirul talks about the murder he was convicted of in an exclusive interview with Al Jazeera\u2019s 101 East.<\/p>\n One night in October 2006, Mongolian translator Altantuya Shaariibuu was abducted from her former lover\u2019s home, and driven to a jungle on the outskirts of the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur, where she was shot and blown up with military-grade explosives.<\/p>\n The kidnappers were Sirul and his superior officer, Azilah Hadri, both members of the elite security detail for Malaysia\u2019s then-deputy prime minister, Najib Razak.<\/p>\n \u201cAzilah told me this [was a] special operation for \u2026 Mr Najib,\u201d Sirul says. \u201cAnd I just obey because he is my superior.\u201d<\/p>\n Shaariibuu\u2019s ex-lover was Abdul Razak Baginda, an adviser and confidant of Najib.<\/p>\n Baginda brokered an allegedly corrupt billion-dollar submarine deal between Malaysia and France that was signed off\u00a0by Najib when he was defence minister\u00a0in 2002.<\/p>\n Shaariibuu had accompanied Baginda to Paris, and in 2006, was allegedly pushing for the $500,000 she was owed for assisting with the deal.<\/p>\n \u201cAzilah told me, \u2018This girl is disturbing Razak\u2019,\u201d Sirul recalls, insisting he was never at the murder scene and that the last time he saw Shaariibuu she was still alive.<\/p>\n \u201cI didn\u2019t do murder. But yes, I\u2019m involved. I get [her] from Razak Baginda\u2019s house,\u201d he says. \u201cAnd then I gave [her] to Azilah \u2026 and then \u2026 I don\u2019t know nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n The bodyguards were found guilty of Shaariibuu\u2019s murder in 2009 and sentenced to death but no motive has ever been established.<\/p>\n According to a police statement, which the Malaysian court deemed involuntary and, therefore, inadmissible, Sirul\u00a0confessed to shooting Shaariibuu in the left side of her head.<\/p>\n But in an unsworn statement to the court, he said he was a \u201cscapegoat to protect \u2026 those who were not in court\u201d.<\/p>\n Baginda was charged with abetting the murder but never stood trial, a committal court finding he had no case to answer.<\/p>\n In 2013, Sirul\u2019s\u00a0conviction was overturned but when it was reinstated on appeal two years later, he was in Australia staying with relatives.<\/p>\n Days later, Sirul\u00a0sent an SMS message seen by 101 East to a politically connected businessman in Malaysia, Abdul Salam Bin Ahmad, demanding millions of dollars.<\/p>\n \u201cGreetings boss. I am in difficulties here. I want 2 million Australian dollars before boss [you]\u00a0come to meet me. I need to guarantee the future of my child here, after that I want 15 million\u2026. Australia. I will not return to Malaysia not ever boss. I won\u2019t bring down the PM,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n But Sirul\u00a0now says the SMS was not his idea, claiming, \u201cI had instructions from Mr Salam\u201d. In his response, Salam wrote, \u201cThey will discuss\u201d. According to Sirul, he was referring to Najib. \u201cThe point is to get some money or something from Najib,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n Sirul claims to have been manipulated for political purposes ever since the murder.<\/p>\n In 2016, while in an Australian immigration detention centre, Sirul\u00a0recorded and circulated a video absolving Najib of any involvement in\u00a0Shaariibuu\u2019s\u00a0murder.<\/p>\n \u201cDato\u2019 Seri Najib Razak was not involved and has no relevance to the case,\u201d he said in the video.<\/p>\n Now, he claims, he wants to \u201ctell the truth\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is Australia. Anybody can talk, isn\u2019t it?\u201d he says. \u201cI want to expose and [tell] the truth now.\u201d<\/p>\n Sirul claims\u00a0he received more than $200,000 to make the video. \u201cMy solicitor was offering me a lot of money,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n \u201cSo they offered and gave me some money. I spent for my son, because I love my son. My son is going to grow up here \u2026 spend a lot of money, study here [in Australia], everything. And my daughter, as well.<\/p>\n \u201cUntil now, I have somebody [who] controls me. \u2018Umar, you don\u2019t talk. You keep silent\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n He claims he is unaware who paid him the money, adding that he\u2019d never paid his lawyers in Malaysia or Australia.<\/p>\n But he is clear about who he was supposed to protect with his silence.<\/p>\n \u201cHonestly, I\u2019m going to tell you specifically, to protect \u2026 prime minister at that time, Mr Najib.\u201d<\/p>\n Sirul says he\u2019s unsure exactly why the hush money was paid, but suggests what he could reveal about his conversations with Azilah would have had political consequences for Najib. Despite Najib\u2019s denials of any involvement in the murder, widespread speculation linking him to Shaariibuu\u2019s killing plagued his political career.<\/p>\n Sirul asserts that evidence presented to the court was all \u201cplanted\u201d, denying any knowledge of Shaariibuu\u2019s\u00a0jewellery found in his jacket in his wardrobe and bloodstained slippers found in his car.<\/p>\n He cites the appeal court\u2019s decision in 2013 to overturn his 2009 conviction as proof the evidence against him was weak and goes on to speculate that Najib interfered in the court to ensure the conviction was reinstated in 2015. \u201cThey have nobody guilty,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n Two days after his release from immigration detention on November 11, he tells 101 East, he had already had meetings with a Malaysian police intelligence officer attached to Malaysia\u2019s high commission and was told that it had reassured Australia\u2019s foreign minister that he posed no threat to the Australian community.<\/p>\n He claims to be in regular contact with the intelligence officer and his former police colleagues. \u201cI\u2019m still in contact with my group. I have a WhatsApp group, around 300 people. My friends all from special unit,\u201d he explains.<\/p>\n While there is debate in Malaysia about the possibility of extraditing him and debate in Australia about the threat to the community after the release of a number of convicted criminals from detention, Sirul\u2019s freedom is fragile.<\/p>\n Soon after the High Court\u2019s decision, the Australian parliament rushed through emergency laws to allow authorities to use electronic ankle bracelets and curfews to monitor the freed detainees.<\/p>\n Opposition immigration spokesman, Dan Tehan, says that\u2019s not enough.<\/p>\n \u201cI think he [Sirul] needs to go back to Malaysia. And so, I would ask the Malaysian government to drop the death penalty so that we can send him back.\u201d<\/p>\n But that\u2019s the last thing Sirul\u00a0wants to happen, claiming, \u201cI feel in danger there because I\u2019m aware that it\u2019s truly unsafe for me to return there \u2026 Whatever happens, I want to build a life with my child here in Australia.\u201d<\/p>\n And he had this to say to Shaariibuu\u2019s family: \u201cI\u2019m going to apologise to the family of the deceased. You know, Altantuya. Please forgive me.\u201d<\/p>\n Shaariibuu\u2019s two sons grew up without their mother. One of them, who was severely disabled, is now dead. Meanwhile, her father continues to fight for justice.<\/p>\n \u201cNothing can replace a mother\u2019s love and care for her children \u2013 nothing. Altantuya\u2019s life was taken away; she was executed. Someday, those people who did this crime will be punished,\u201d \u00a0Shaariibuu Setev, Altantuya\u2019s father, told Al Jazeera in 2015.<\/p>\n In December 2022, a Malaysian civil court ordered the government, Abdul Razak Baginda and the two convicted policemen to pay $1m in damages to Shaariibuu\u2019s family, but the government and Baginda have appealed the decision. Shaariibuu\u2019s family have also filed an appeal for greater compensation having originally asked the court for more than $20m.<\/p>\n 101 East approached Sirul\u2019s lawyer, Hasnal Rezua Merican, businessman Abdul Salam bin Ahmad, as well as the Australian foreign minister and the Malaysian High Commission for comment on the former bodyguard\u2019s claims, but received no responses.<\/p>\n Najib\u00a0is serving a 12-year jail sentence for corruption and abuse of power and could not be reached for comment.<\/p>\nThe murder<\/strong><\/h2>\n
No motive<\/h2>\n
Paid for silence<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Perilous freedom<\/h2>\n
Apology<\/strong><\/h2>\n