KUALA LUMPUR: A motion has been filed by a government backbencher to discuss efforts to extradite former police commando Sirul Azhar Umar, who is currently in Australia, back to the country.
In a letter to the Dewan Rakyat Speaker, Lim Lip Eng (PH-Kepong), who filed the motion under Standing Order 18 (2), said that the matter to bring Sirul back from Australia, was a specific issue that required immediate attention.
He also argued that the government's effort to extradite Sirul should be expedited after he was released from detention in Sydney Australia on Nov 11.
"It is the government's responsibility to ensure that Sirul faces his punishment in Malaysia for the murder of a Mongolian woman, Altantuya Shaariibuu, in 2006, in order to uphold justice relevant to the public interest.
"Therefore, the above matter satisfies the requirements under Standing Order 18(2), which is, it is a specific matter, requires immediate attention, and is relevant to the public interest," argued Lim.
In 2009, Sirul and accomplice former chief inspector Azilah Hadri were convicted of murdering Mongolian model Altantuya Shaariibuu and were sentenced to death.
The Court of Appeal overturned their sentences in 2013 but upon the prosecution's appeal, the sentences were upheld by the Federal Court.
Sirul fled to Australia, where he was detained by Immigration there after Interpol issued a red notice on him.
Sirul was released last week after an Australian High Court decision on Nov 8 ruled that non-citizens unable to be deported could no longer be detained indefinitely.
Altantuya, 28, is believed to have been shot dead before her body was blown up with explosives at a secondary forest near the Subang Dam in Puncak Alam, Shah Alam in 2006.
Earlier, Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said that the extradition agreement between Malaysia and Australia could only be invoked in the case of former policeman Sirul if his death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment.
Saifuddin said this was due to the dual criminality requirement in the agreement that needed to be satisfied.
