Sirul Azhar Umar placed on Interpol red notice

Interpol has issued a red notice for Sirul Azhar Umar, who was sentenced to death for the murder of Mongolian translator Altantuya Shaariibuu.

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.

Sirul's name was placed on Interpol's website, alongside 37 other individuals sought by Malaysian authorities for a variety of crimes.

The 43-year-old former Special Action Unit corporal failed to turn up at the Federal Court last week, as he was believed to be in Australia.

Bernama reported that Sirul had left the country two months ago and did not have enough money to return to Malaysia.

The Federal Court allowed the government's appeal over the murder of Altantuya, which led to Sirul and Chief Inspector Azilah Hadri being sentenced to death.

Federal Court judge Suriyadi Halim Omar said the prosecution had proved its case to implicate the two with the charge that carried the death penalty.

"As such, the Court of Appeal was wrong in reversing the findings of the trial court to free them," said Suriyadi, who is a member of the five-man bench to hear the final appeal.

On August 23, 2013, the Court of Appeal allowed the appeals brought by Azilah and Sirul and acquitted them.

Prosecutor Tun Abdul Majid Tun Hamzah asked the court to issue a warrant of arrest for Sirul, which was granted.

Four years earlier, High Court judge Datuk Zaki Mohd Yassin had found the two guilty and sentenced them to death.

Evidence in court revealed that the Mongolian translator was either murdered by C4 explosives or killed first and the remains destroyed on October 18, 2006, in the outskirts of Shah Alam, near the capital city Kuala Lumpur.

Former political analyst Abdul Razak Baginda, a confidante of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, was charged with abetting Azilah and Sirul but was acquitted by the High Court in 2008 without defence called. The government did not appeal. – January 20, 2015.

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