SHAH ALAM: A lawyer acting for the family of murdered Mongolian model Altantuya Shaariibuu has asked the Attorney-General to make known the status of the extradition bid for Sirul Azhar Umar (pic).
Ramkarpal Singh said he had written a letter to Tan Sri Mohamed Apandi Ali last week to find out about the matter.
“I have written to the Attorney-General to find out if Mohamed Apandi has initiated extradition proceedings for Sirul Azhar Umar as claimed by the Home Minister in Parliament,” said Ramkarpal.
He said he had also written to the Australian Attorney General last week to confirm if the extradition process had been initiated by Malaysia.
“I feel Sirul must be extradited to face the due process of law,” he said after the case management of the family’s civil suit against the Government and three others here.
Yesterday, Ramkarpal expressed his disappointment over the delay on the part of Wisma Putra to respond to their queries on the service of family’s application to amend the suit which was to be delivered to Sirul, who is now in Australia.
“We have written to the Wisma Putra on numerous times but no response. This has been going on for six months.They have to satisfy us that those documents had been delivered to the Consulate in Sydney,” he said.
Sirul is said to be in Villawood Immigration Detention centre in Sydney.
Ramkarpal said the family’s application to amend the claim has been delivered to Wisma Putra in early September last year for the necessary actions to be carried out as stipulated by law.
“We cannot proceed with this application if Sirul did not get those amended claim as he has got right to reply.
“We have to satisfy the court that those documents has been served to him,” he said.
He said deputy registrar Noorhayati Johar had agreed with his suggestion to find out the current status from Wisma Putra and set March 24 for final case management.
“If they (Wisma Putra’s official) still don’t reply, we will serve the document to Sirul using different procedures. It is delaying proceedings as this application has to be heard before the trial is set,” he said.
On the final solution, he said perhaps they have to appoint a “local process server” in Sydney to hand over the application to Sirul personally.
Senior Federal Counsel Mohd Mukhzany Fariz Mohd Mokhtar, who appeared for the Government, confirmed the final date for case management of the suit.
On Jan 13 last year, a Federal Court convicted former Special Action Unit personnel (then C/Insp) Azilah Hadri, 39, and (then Kpl) Sirul, 44, for the 2006 murder. Both men were sentenced to death.
The Federal Court also issued a warrant of arrest for Sirul for failing to turn up for the judgment on the appeal against his acquittal by the Court of Appeal in 2013.
Altantuya’s family – her father Shaariibuu Setev, his wife Altantsetseg Sanjaa and two grandsons who are minors – filed a RM100mil suit in 2007 against the Government and three others over claims of alleged conspiracy and wrongful killing.
The case has stalled because the High Court wanted the criminal trial to conclude first.
The suit was filed against former political analyst Abdul Razak Baginda, the Malaysian Government and the two men found guilty of murdering Altantuya.
Setev said his daughter’s death had caused them mental shock and psychological trauma.
They are seeking for damages, including medical treatment for one of Altantuya’s sons who suffers from a medical condition.
Federal Court judge Justice Suriyadi Halim Omar, who read the judgement, held that the prosecution had proven its case against the two accused beyond reasonable doubt.
High Court judge Justice Mohd Zaki Md Yasin had acquitted and discharged Abdul Razak without calling for his defence on Oct 31, 2008 for a charge of abetting in the murder of the translator. The prosecution did not appeal over his acquittal.-Thestar
