FMT:
There’s absolutely no truth in Sirul’s claim, says his ex-lawyer
Hasnal Rezua Merican denies paying Sirul Azhar Umar RM1 million to exonerate Najib Razak of links to the murder of Mongolian Altantuya Shaariibuu.
Sirul Azhar Umar is facing the death sentence in Malaysia for the murder of Mongolian Altantuya Shaariibuu. (Al Jazeera pic)
PETALING JAYA: A lawyer has denied all claims made by his former client Sirul Azhar Umar in Australia in an interview with an international TV network.
Hasnal Rezua Merican said this included an allegation that he had paid Sirul RM1 million.
“There is absolutely no truth to all the allegations he has made. I visited Sirul six to seven times during his incarceration in Australia as his lawyer. I can’t recall but the last time I met him may have been in 2017 or 2018.
“It is too early to take any step as the allegations were made and circulated in Australia,” Hasnal told FMT in a WhatsApp message.
Earlier this morning, Aljazeera English’s 101 East programme aired an exclusive interview with Sirul in Canberra, Australia, which was his first since his release two weeks ago.
Former policeman Sirul, who is facing the death sentence in Malaysia for the murder of Mongolian Altantuya Shaariibuu, claimed that he was a scapegoat in the incident and was paid a large sum of money by Hasnul to exonerate former Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak from any link to the brutal murder in 2006.
“(It was) big money in Malaysian ringgit. Around a million ringgit. Yes, I received it,” he said when asked about the sum offered to him.
In addition, Sirul said he did not have to pay for any legal fees in Malaysia as it was “taken care of” but did not give details.
When pressured to divulge the source of the money, he said he did not know.
Sirul also said his superior Azilah Hadri told him that the move to arrest Altantuya was a special operation.
“I joined the police (when I was) 19 years old. It taught me tough discipline, about obeying superiors, which means (saying) yes sir, yes sir, and never say no,” he said in the episode.
He said Malaysians had been asking who gave the order to kill Altantuya but he was not able to tell until now.
When pressed on what exactly Azilah told him, he said his superior told him that a girl was disturbing Razak Baginda, a political analyst.
“I didn’t murder (Altantuya). But I was involved. I took her from Razak’s house alive. And then I handed her over to Azilah and did nothing after that,” he said, adding that he was just a sergeant then and had a chief inspector (Azilah) above him.
Australia would not deport Sirul to Malaysia as the country’s laws do not allow all those facing the death sentence to be repatriated to their countries of origin.
Altantuya was shot in the head in 2006 in a forest in Puncak Alam, Selangor. Her body was later blown up with explosives.
Sirul and Azilah were convicted in 2009 by the High Court of killing Altantuya, who was described as an interpreter. Azilah is currently on death row at Kajang prison.
They succeeded in overturning their conviction at the Court of Appeal in 2013, but the Federal Court in 2015 restored their conviction and sentenced them to death.
Sirul fled to Australia before the final verdict.
He had been held at the detention centre since 2015 after being detained by Australian police. His first application for political asylum in Australia was rejected in 2019.
PETALING JAYA: A lawyer has denied all claims made by his former client Sirul Azhar Umar in Australia in an interview with an international TV network.
Hasnal Rezua Merican said this included an allegation that he had paid Sirul RM1 million.
“There is absolutely no truth to all the allegations he has made. I visited Sirul six to seven times during his incarceration in Australia as his lawyer. I can’t recall but the last time I met him may have been in 2017 or 2018.
“It is too early to take any step as the allegations were made and circulated in Australia,” Hasnal told FMT in a WhatsApp message.
Earlier this morning, Aljazeera English’s 101 East programme aired an exclusive interview with Sirul in Canberra, Australia, which was his first since his release two weeks ago.
Former policeman Sirul, who is facing the death sentence in Malaysia for the murder of Mongolian Altantuya Shaariibuu, claimed that he was a scapegoat in the incident and was paid a large sum of money by Hasnul to exonerate former Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak from any link to the brutal murder in 2006.
“(It was) big money in Malaysian ringgit. Around a million ringgit. Yes, I received it,” he said when asked about the sum offered to him.
In addition, Sirul said he did not have to pay for any legal fees in Malaysia as it was “taken care of” but did not give details.
When pressured to divulge the source of the money, he said he did not know.
Sirul also said his superior Azilah Hadri told him that the move to arrest Altantuya was a special operation.
“I joined the police (when I was) 19 years old. It taught me tough discipline, about obeying superiors, which means (saying) yes sir, yes sir, and never say no,” he said in the episode.
He said Malaysians had been asking who gave the order to kill Altantuya but he was not able to tell until now.
When pressed on what exactly Azilah told him, he said his superior told him that a girl was disturbing Razak Baginda, a political analyst.
“I didn’t murder (Altantuya). But I was involved. I took her from Razak’s house alive. And then I handed her over to Azilah and did nothing after that,” he said, adding that he was just a sergeant then and had a chief inspector (Azilah) above him.
Australia would not deport Sirul to Malaysia as the country’s laws do not allow all those facing the death sentence to be repatriated to their countries of origin.
Altantuya was shot in the head in 2006 in a forest in Puncak Alam, Selangor. Her body was later blown up with explosives.
Sirul and Azilah were convicted in 2009 by the High Court of killing Altantuya, who was described as an interpreter. Azilah is currently on death row at Kajang prison.
They succeeded in overturning their conviction at the Court of Appeal in 2013, but the Federal Court in 2015 restored their conviction and sentenced them to death.
Sirul fled to Australia before the final verdict.
He had been held at the detention centre since 2015 after being detained by Australian police. His first application for political asylum in Australia was rejected in 2019.
Sirul's claim is convincing.
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