Lawyer Kamarul Hisham Kamaruddin speaking to media after his client Sirul Azhar Umar was found guilty on Monday. – The Malaysian Insider pic, January 21, 2015.Lawyers representing Corporal Sirul Azhar Umar (pic, below) in Malaysia are trying to contact the former police commando and determine why he was arrested by Australian immigration authorities, but efforts to get through to the officials have been fruitless.
Sirul’s lawyer, Kamarul Hisham Kamaruddin, told The Malaysian Insider that he had contacted the immigration authorities for further information, but a spokesman refused to divulge any information.He said Sirul’s legal team could only decide on their next course of action once the legal basis for his arrest today was confirmed by the officials.“We have tried to speak to the spokesman of the immigration department, but they said they were not at liberty to discuss the case," said Kamarul.“We contacted ABC News, which was the first news organisation to publish news of his arrest, but they said the only information they have is from what the immigration spokesman informed them, and that the arrest was pursuant to Interpol’s red notice.“So now we have to await some official announcement, such as an extradition request from Malaysia, before we can do anything," he said.Kamarul had previously said that they would mount a legal challenge in the Malaysian court if the authorities requested for Sirul’s extradition.Sirul and Chief Inspector Azilah Hadri were sentenced to death by the Federal Court on January 13 for the murder of Mongolian translator Altantuya Shaariibuu.But Sirul fled to Australia two months before the verdict was read out, according to Bernama, and the country’s officials said their laws do not allow extradition in cases where a convicted person faces the death penalty.However, Sirul was arrested by Australian immigrations, one day after Interpol issued a red notice for him.A red notice signifies authorities are attempting to seek the location and arrest of wanted persons with a view to extradition or similar lawful action.Kamarul said Sirul had yet to be released by the officials, and that he could not get in touch with his client.“We don’t even know if he has a lawyer with him. We don’t know the circumstances of his case, whether he committed an immigration offence or was arrested because of the interpol’s red notice," he said.“We are still trying to get in touch with him."The Federal Court had allowed the prosecution's appeal and sentenced Sirul and Azilah to death, overturning their acquittal by the Court of Appeal in August 2013.Federal Court judge Suriyadi Halim Omar said the prosecution had proved its case to implicate the two with Altantuya's murder.Altantuya was brutally murdered with her remains, believed to have been destroyed by C4 explosives, discovered in the outskirts of Shah Alam.Former political analyst Abdul Razak Baginda, a confidante of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, was charged with abetting Azilah, but was acquitted in 2008. The government did not appeal the acquittal. – January 21, 2015.
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