The latest from former police commando Sirul Azhar, one of the two convicted murderers of the Mongolian Altantuya Shaariibuu who is in Australia challenging the bid of the Malaysian government to extradite him to return to the death row in Malaysia, is that he had never admitted to the murder of Altantuya.

Sirul has been maintaining in his telephone conversations with Malaysiakini that he had acted under orders and was being made a scapegoat.
He told Malaysiakini on Chinese New Year on Wednesday, 19th February – the day the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, blurted “utter rubbish”, “total rubbish” to Sirul’s claim of having acted “under orders”:

“There are no witnesses to the murder until today. All this is based on circumstantial evidence linking me (to the murder).

“I understand that circumstantial evidence is not strong as direct evidence.”

Sirul should come clean and admit to the heinous murder of Altantunya under orders.

Sirul cannot continue to equivocate about the murder of Altantuya Shaariibuu but must show genuine remorse for the killing under orders if he wants Malaysians and the world to be equally outraged at his betrayal by the murder “mastermind”

It is true that Sirul had never admitted to killing the Mongolian during the prolonged nine-year trial and appeals on the murder of Shaariibuu from 2006 – 2015, but he was very specific in admitting to the killing of Altantuya by providing explicit and graphic details of the gruesome murder of Altantunya together with another former police commando Azila Hadri and blowing by her body by military C4 explosives in Sirul’s first statement to the police on November 9, 2006.

On Feb. 3, 2009 a tearful Sirul asked the Kuala Lumpur High Court not to sentence him to death for Altantuya’s murder, saying he was like “a black sheep that has to be sacrificed” to protect unnamed people who have never been brought to court or faced questioning.

Sirul said: “I have no reason to cause hurt, what’s more to take the life of the victim in such a cruel manner. I appeal to the court, which has the powers to determine if I live or die, not to sentence me so as to fulfil others’ plans for me.”

Sirul has the support of decent human beings, whether in Malaysia, Australia and anywhere in the world, in feeling outraged that as a pawn in the killing of Altantuya, he had to pay the supreme penalty of “death penalty” while the murder mastermind could get off scot-free.

But Sirul cannot be equivocal, trying to have the best of both worlds, claiming that he had never admitted to the murder of Altantuya and yet want the world to sympathise with his outrage that he was being punished for loyally carrying out orders while the the mastermind who issued the order gets away scotsfree.

Sirul should stop equivocating. The murder trial is fully over with the Federal Court decision on January 13, 2015 finding Sirul and Azila guilty of the murder of Altantuya and sentenced them to death.

Sirul must confront the facts: Was Altantunya murdered in Mukim Bukit Raja, Klang between 10 pm on Oct. 19, 2006 and 1 am on Oct. 20, 2006; was she murdered by him and Azila, both of whom used military explosives to blow up her body to destroy the evidence; and were they acting “orders” when murdering Altantunya?

If Sirul claims that he is innocent of the murder of Altantunya, then he should not be claiming justice on the ground that he had murdered under “orders”, but that he had been wrongly convicted of Altantunya’s murder when he is totally innocent.

Sirul should think through his statements and actions so not to be caught in a web of his own making.