Saturday, February 16, 2019

Extradiction Agreements and Death Penalty, Detention Without Trial and SOSMA?

#Extradition agreements may result in persons being sent back subsequently being charged tried and sentenced to death. Hong Kong, at present no extradition if it is political in nature and the requesting country need give an undertaking that the death penalty will not imposed...which is difficult if national laws provide for the death penalty.

In Malaysia, Australia is refusing to sent back convicted murderer Sirul Azhar because sending him back means that he may be sentenced to death. However, if Malaysia abolishes the death penalty, not just the mandatory death penalty, and commutes the death sentence of all on death row, the situation may be different...

Sending back anyone to Malaysia has the risk of death penalty. A person could be send back, but there can be no GUARANTEE that after return, he may end up being charged with some other offence that carries the death penalty, is there?

What about Detention Without Trial? Should countries being requested to send back Malaysians suspected of a crime have to worry about this - the fact that the said person may simply end up under Malaysia's draconian Detention Without Trial laws - hence the denial of a fair trial?

SOSMA - Well, this provides for the 'denial of bail', and the use of evidence not usually admissible in trial, and criminal procedure(not usually allowed in a fair trial) - Should the return Malaysians back to Malaysia on the request of Malaysia.

CONVICTED PRISONERS UNDERGOING SENTENCES IN MALAYSIAN JAILS - This is a totally different set of issues...the question of discrimination arises...better(or worse) prison conditions in the requesting country, different sets of conditions when it come to 'parole' proceedings or even Petitions to King/Sultan...this we may discuss at a later time?

Hong Kong is considering changing the law on transferring fugitives – so how are extraditions dealt with now, and why are there no deals with mainland China, Taiwan and Macau?

If proposal becomes law, there will be an extradition arrangement between Hong Kong and the mainland for the first time
But legal experts caution such a change could also affect existing arrangements with other jurisdictions

PUBLISHED : Wednesday, 13 February, 2019, 8:20am

UPDATED : Wednesday, 13 February, 2019, 9:39pm

On a discretionary basis, mainland authorities have handed over to Hong Kong fugitives accused of violating the city’s laws. Photo: Handout

Alvin Lum

The proposal by the Security Bureau is the latest response to a high-profile case in Taiwan, involving a Hongkonger accused by the authorities there of murdering his pregnant girlfriend last February before fleeing to Hong Kong.

Chan Tong-kai, 19, was arrested in Hong Kong, but is facing charges related only to having his dead girlfriend’s bank card, cash and other possessions.

He has not been sent to Taiwan, despite requests from the authorities there, because there is no formal extradition agreement between the two places.

If the bureau’s proposal becomes law, there will be an extradition arrangement between Hong Kong and the mainland for the first time. Legal experts caution that such a change could also affect existing extradition arrangements with other jurisdictions.

How are extradition requests handled now?

Hong Kong has signed mutual extradition agreements with 20 countries, including the United States, Britain, Canada and neighbouring jurisdictions such as the Philippines and Singapore. Every new agreement negotiated between Hong Kong and a different country must be approved by the city’s lawmakers.

When a foreign country makes an extradition request, Hong Kong’s chief executive must decide whether to issue an arrest warrant. Among other things, the city’s leader must consider if the accused person’s alleged action would be considered a crime in Hong Kong as well, and be satisfied that the case was not of a political nature.

Mainland police hand over three suspects wanted for robbery in Hong Kong in 2018. Photo: Edward Wong

If the crime the person is accused of carries the death penalty in the jurisdiction requesting extradition, the country must undertake not to impose the death penalty if the suspect is sent back.

If an arrest warrant is issued, the fugitive is allowed to oppose the order in a Hong Kong court.

Aside from extraditing wanted individuals, Hong Kong also provides criminal legal assistance to 32 countries, for instance, by handing over evidence, with decisions made by the secretary for justice.

Why is there no extradition to the mainland, Taiwan and Macau?

Hong Kong’s two main laws governing the transfer of fugitives and providing help in criminal cases – the Fugitive Offenders Ordinance and the Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Ordinance – have expressly excluded China. Macau and Taiwan are also excluded.

On a discretionary basis, mainland authorities have handed over to Hong Kong fugitives accused of violating the city’s laws. But this has only been an administrative arrangement, and Hong Kong has never reciprocated.

The former deputy director of public prosecutions, John Reading SC, said the major obstacle in reaching an agreement with the mainland was the death penalty in its legal system. Other signatories were prepared to give Hong Kong the assurance in their respective agreements that they would not impose the death penalty if a fugitive was extradited.

“I really can’t believe that China would agree to give an undertaking not to impose the death penalty if somebody is to be extradited to China,” he said.

Hong Kong and the mainland have moved closer in recognising civil and commercial verdicts by each other’s courts.

Shen Deyong raised the issue of the absence of mutual legal agreements on cross-border criminal cases. Photo: AFP

In recent years, the mainland’s judiciary has also raised the issue of the absence of mutual legal agreements on cross-border criminal cases. In 2017, the former vice-president of the Supreme People’s Court, Shen Deyong, mentioned the issue in a speech in Hong Kong.

After the two sides signed a reciprocal arrangement on enforcing judgments in civil cases, a spokesman of the Supreme People’s Court said there was a need to also “resolve the void in criminal legal assistance between Hong Kong and the mainland”.

What is Hong Kong pushing for in changing the law?

The bureau has proposed taking a case-by-case approach for extraditions involving any place with which Hong Kong does not yet have an agreement.

The process will involve following all the requirements in the Fugitive Offenders Ordinance, which covers Hong Kong’s dealings with the 20 countries with which there are extradition agreements.

To trigger the process, the chief executive will issue a certificate to request a provisional arrest, and that will be used to apply for an arrest warrant in court. The accused person may contest the extradition in court.

The government cited the case of the woman found dead in Taiwan last year to justify the need to change the law. Although her boyfriend was in custody in Hong Kong, there was no extradition arrangement to send him to Taiwan, where the authorities suspect him of murder.

Hong Kong hopes to amend the law before the Legislative Council’s summer recess in July.

Chan Tong-kai is suspected of killing his girlfriend in Taipei. Photo: Winson Wong

Are there any concerns over the proposed change?

Democratic Party lawmaker James To Kun-sun and Reading both warned that introducing the one-off extradition mechanism could affect how countries with extradition agreements view Hong Kong.

“Taking a case-by-case approach could mean it could apply to all sorts of cases,” To said, citing the 2015 saga of five Hong Kong booksellers who disappeared.

In contrast, he said, extradition agreements always relied on trusting the requesting country’s legal system.

Pro-establishment lawmakers Starry Lee Wai-king and Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee dismissed concerns over handing over Hongkongers to mainland authorities, saying there were enough safeguards.

Beijing and Hong Kong reach deal on notifying each other about detainees

Law professor Simon Young of the University of Hong Kong, however, said the proposed change could be a breakthrough, so long as a fugitive received no less legal protection before being handed over.

The change could strengthen strategic cooperation with Taiwan and Macau in combating commercial and financial crime as well, he said.

Young pointed out that at present, if a criminal was suspected of moving assets to any of these jurisdictions, there was very little Hong Kong could do to recover them.

Can the rule change be retrospective?

Technically, the new law could apply to cases that happened earlier, although much depends on the actual wording of the bill.

“Usually the law is not retrospective, but sometimes, very rarely, drafters do make the law retrospective,” Reading said. But such a move could attract opposition, he added, if the law was viewed as violating the basic principle of natural justice.

Joseph Lau (centre) was jailed in absentia by a Macau court in 2014. Photo: Sam Tsang

Young said the principle of not making the new law retrospective would not apply if an action such as murder was considered an offence in both jurisdictions. He noted that other existing extradition arrangements could apply in cases that happened before the change in the law.

For example, he said, after the rules were changed, the Macau government could request the extradition of Hong Kong property tycoon Joseph Lau Luen-hung, who was jailed in absentia for more than five years in 2014 on corruption charges.

But such request did not mean Lau would be jailed if Hong Kong did decide to hand him over to Macau.

“Under the existing Fugitive Offenders Ordinance, you cannot send someone to serve a sentence if he was convicted without being present at the trial,” Young said.

“You would only send a person back to face trial.”

Additional reporting by Ng Kang-chung

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: Ensuring justice is served by closing fugitives’ legal loophole - South China Morning Post, 16/2/2019

Delaying death penalty abolition means delaying justice in Altantuya case(Malaysiakini)

Delaying death penalty abolition means delaying justice in Altantuya case

Charles Hector, Madpet | Published: 14 Feb 2019, 9:47 am

LETTER | Madpet (Malaysians Against Death Penalty and Torture) is saddened by the delay in the abolition of the death penalty, which would also most likely delay justice in the case of Altantuya Shaariibuu, the Mongolian mother of two. She was murdered and her body was blown up in a forest with explosives in 2006.

Sirul Azhar Umar and Azilah Hadri, who were serving as then deputy prime minister Najib Abdul Razak’s personal security detail at the time of the murder, were arrested and convicted for the murder by the High Court.

In 2013, the Court of Appeal overturned the convictions and both were released. Thereafter, the Federal Court in January 2015 allowed the appeal by the prosecution, and the murder conviction and death sentence was restored. Murder carries the mandatory death penalty.

A co-accused, former political analyst Abdul Razak Baginda, a confidant of Najib, was acquitted in 2008 without his defence being called to the charge of abetting Azilah and Sirul. The prosecution did not appeal the acquittal.

Najib, at the time of the murder was the deputy prime minister, and in March 2009 he became the prime minister until the last general election in May 2018, that saw the defeat of Umno-BN, and formation of a new alternative Pakatan Harapan government.

Sirul, after his release by the Court of Appeal left for Australia, and he did not turn up for the hearing at the Federal Court, that again sentenced him to death. Since 2015, he has been detained at the Immigration and Border Protection Department’s facility in Sydney.

In 2015, Sirul was reported by Malaysiakini as saying, "I was under orders. The important people with motive (to commit murder) are still free."

This raised serious doubts that the person, or persons who ordered the killing of Altantuya or paid for it may still be at large. Australia, which is an abolitionist state, would not send Sirul back to Malaysia, knowing that he may be hanged if he is sent back to Malaysia.

It is now good that the current Malaysian cabinet has decided to abolish the death penalty, and all that needs to be done is the passing of bills in Parliament that will abolish the death penalty, and hopefully also result in the death sentence of all those on death row being commuted. This would enable Sirul to be brought back to Malaysia, and his evidence which may be vital for the successful prosecution of any other remaining perpetrators will finally happen.

In the recent United Nations General Assembly resolution calling for the moratorium of executions pending the abolition of the death penalty, Malaysia, voted in favour of the resolution for the very first time in line with the new government’s declared position.

The Altantuya case has also made us aware that there may be many others who have ordered or paid for some other to commit murder who may still be out there free, and as such justice is not yet fully achieved. All these other persons who ordered or paid for such murders should also be identified, prosecuted, convicted and sentenced.

These persons may also be subject to threats against themselves and their family members by those who ordered or paid them to kill. Those who admit they killed because they were paid to kill are still guilty of murder – so there is little reason to speak up and identify other accomplices who are yet to be identified and/or prosecuted.

When the death penalty is abolished, and better still any mandatory life prison sentence, the courts will then have the ability to impose a lower prison term on any or all who co-operated in making sure all others involved are also identified and prosecuted. This would be another mitigating factor that the courts can consider, but always ensuring that a just sentence is imposed.

The abolition of the death penalty is needed to prevent the ‘innocent’ from being wrongly killed, as there is always the risk of miscarriage of justice, which could be due to lawyers, prosecutors, police, judges, court procedures and many other factors.

It has been shown in Malaysia, that the death penalty, even if mandatory, does not deter crime.

Further, it is against religious values, even Islam, as the death penalty in Malaysia is not provided for in Islamic laws but civil laws, and the trial does not comply with Islamic evidential and procedural requirements.

Note, that in Islam, even for murder, execution is a possibility as there is ‘diyat’(diya), where compensation and forgiveness from a victim’s family can save a murderer from death – this highlights that repentance or forgiveness from victims is important, not simply punishment if you commit a crime.

In Malaysia, for a long time, the lack of political will and strength on the part of the government despite the global trend towards abolition may have kept the death penalty in our law books.

The fear of the government to do the right and just thing simply because of a fear of a possible loss of political support is pathetic. Hopefully, this new Pakatan Harapan, unlike its predecessor, will not weaken and backtrack on its decision to abolish the death penalty.

Many expected that the relevant bills leading to the abolition of the death penalty would have been tabled at the last parliamentary session in 2018, and the hope now is that it will be tabled in the upcoming parliamentary session starting on March 11, 2019.

It is sad that some have been calling for the retention of the death penalty, who may simply be those who are unaware of the just reasons for abolition. They may simply be opposing it because this was the decision of the current government, and as such be merely a political strategy rather than one based on justice or values.

They may also be people who fail to also appreciate the sufferings of the children and families, simply because a parent or sibling is executed. They fail to appreciate that even the mandatory death penalty has failed to reduce murder or drug trafficking in Malaysia.

Therefore, Madpet

calls on Malaysia to ensure that all those, if any, who ordered or paid for the murder of Altantuya Shaariibuu are identified and prosecuted. The abolition of the death penalty will also make it less likely for accomplices including those who ordered or paid others to commit the crime to escape justice, as those caught and/or convicted will more likely help make this happen, if their assistance can affect/reduce sentences;
calls for the Malaysian government to immediately and bravely table the relevant bills that will see the abolition of the death penalty, preferably during this upcoming parliamentary session beginning in March 2019; and
calls for the Malaysian government to immediately commute the death sentences of all those on death row, which was about 1,267 in July 2018. - Malaysiakini, 14/2/2019

South Korean bishops call for an end to the death penalty

Catholic News Agency
Feb 15, 2019
CATHOLIC NEWS AGENCY

(Credit: Associated Press.)

SEOUL, South Korea - The South Korean bishops’ conference has called for an end to the death penalty, and asked the nation’s Constitutional Court to consider whether capital punishment violates South Korea’s constitution.

“The capital punishment system treats criminals not as human beings capable of moral reflection and improvement, but simply as a means of defending society. If the aim were to permanently segregate criminals to protect society, that could certainly be achieved through life imprisonment or penal servitude without the possibility of parole, which represent less of a restriction on basic rights,” the bishops said in their constitutional appeal, filed Feb. 12.

“All individuals’ lives possess the same value, and that life is of absolute significance to each individual,” a spokesman for the bishops’ campaign told the Hankyoreh newspaper.

“It is no different even for criminals who have committed atrocious acts that violate and harm the life and human rights of others.”

The South Korean bishops have collected the signatures of 102,517 South Koreans requesting that capital punishment be replaced by life imprisonment, Hankyoreh reported.

The nation’s Constitutional Court has ruled previously, both in 1996 and in 2010, that the death penalty does not violate the South Korean constitution.

61 people await execution on South Korea’s death row, according to death penalty abolition groups, but no one has been executed in the country since 1997.

Pope Francis has been an outspoken opponent of the death penalty, revising the Catechism of the Catholic Church in 2018 to call execution “inadmissible.”

There are nearly 6 million Catholics in South Korea, comprising more than 10 percent of the country’s population. - CRUX, 15/2/2019

S. Korea’s Catholic bishops call for legislation banning capital punishment

Posted on : Feb.13,2019 17:51 KST Modified on : Feb.13,2019 17:51 KST

Nation’s Catholic Church collects 102,517 signatures in petition

Kim Hyeong-tae (third from right), chairman of the subcommittee for the abolishment of capital punishment of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Korea (CBCK) justice and peace committee, announced the committee’s submission of a Constitutional appeal against the death penalty on Feb. 12 in front of the Constitutional Court of Korea. (Baek So-ah, staff photographer)

The capital punishment abolition subcommittee of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Korea (CBCK) justice and peace committee submitted a Constitutional appeal on Feb. 12 against the death penalty.

In a press conference the same day before the Constitutional Court in Seoul’s Anguk neighborhood, chairman of the subcommittee and Duksu Law Offices President Kim Hyeong-tae presented the reasons for the death penalty’s abolition.

Also present was justice and peace committee chairman Bishop Constantine Bae Ki-hyen, who urged the Constitutional Court to conduct a sincere review. The Catholic Church has collected 102,517 signatures to date in a campaign launched at individual churches nationwide last December to request legislation abolishing capital punishment and imposing life imprisonment instead.

The figure behind the Constitutional appeal request is an individual (identified by the initial “K”) who was sentenced to lifetime penal servitude by the first criminal division of the Bucheon branch of Incheon District Court last December after being arrested and indicted for parricide. Kim Hyeong-tae, who previously chaired the Catholic Church’s human rights committee, assisted K in submitting a constitutionality review recommendation and Constitutional appeal request.

The court ruling on K’s case last year rejected a recommendation for a review of the death penalty’s constitutionality, arguing that capital punishment serves as the “strongest deterrent against crime.” Kim stressed, “All individuals’ lives possess the same value, and that life is of absolute significance to each individual.” “It is no different even for criminals who have committed atrocious acts that violate and harm the life and human rights of others,” he insisted.

Kim also noted, “While the Constitutional Court has ruled the capital punishment system constitutional in the past, the number of opinions finding it unconstitutional has risen from 7-to-2 in 1996 to 5-to-4 in 2010, and many of the Constitutional Court justices have stated their belief that the death penalty should be abolished in confirmation hearings during their candidacy.”

“With two-thirds of South Koreans stating in a National Human Rights Commission of Korea survey last year that they support abolishing the death penalty provided that an alternative form of punishment is introduced, we look forward to a wise decision from the Constitutional Court,” he said. By Cho Hyeon, religion correspondent - Hankyoreh, 13/2/2019

Friday, February 15, 2019

Delay in abolition of Death Penalty delays the bringing to justice all those involved in murder of Altantuya Shaariibuu(Malaysia Today)

Delay in abolition of Death Penalty delays the bringing to justice all those involved in murder of Altantuya Shaariibuu

LETTERS/SURAT

By admin-s On Feb 14, 2019

This would enable Sirul to be brought back to Malaysia, and his evidence which may be vital for the successful prosecution of any other remaining perpetrators will finally happen.

Charles Hector, MADPET

Table Bills To Abolish Death Penalty in Parliament Session Starting 11^th March

MADPET(Malaysians Against Death Penalty and Torture) is saddened by the delay in the abolition of the death penalty, which would also most likely delay justice in the case of Altantuya Shaariibuu, the Mongolian mother of two. She was murdered and her body was blown up in a forest with explosives in 2006.

Sirul Azhar Umar and Azilah Hadri, who were then serving as Najib’s personal security detail at the time of the murder, were arrested and convicted for the murder by the High Court. In 2013, the Court of Appeal overturned the convictions and both were released. Thereafter, the Federal Court in January 2015, allowed the appeal by the prosecution, and the murder conviction and death sentence was restored. Murder carries the mandatory death penalty.

A co-accused, former political analyst Abdul Razak Baginda, a confidant of then deputy prime minister Najib Razak, was acquitted in 2008 without his defence being called to the charge of abetting Azilah and Sirul. The prosecution did not appeal the acquittal.

Najib, at the time of the murder was the Deputy Prime Minister, and in March 2009 he became the Prime Minister until the last General Election in May 2018, that saw the defeat of the UMNO-Barisan National, and formation of a new alternative Pakatan Harapan government.

Sirul Azhar, after his release by the Court of Appeal left for Australia, and he did not turn up for the Federal Court hearing, that again sentenced him to death. Since 2015, he has been detained at the Immigration and Border Protection Department’s facility in Sydney.

In 2015, Sirul was reported saying, ‘”I was under orders. The important people with motive (to commit murder) are still free,” Sirul Azhar Umar said in a phone interview published on Wednesday by Malaysian news website Malaysiakini.’(Straits Times, 18/2/2015).

This raised serious doubts that the person/s who ordered the killing of Altantuya or paid for it may still be at large. Australia, which is an abolitionist state, would not send Sirul back to Malaysia, knowing that he may be hanged if he is send back to Malaysia.

It is now good that the current Malaysian cabinet has decided to abolish the death penalty, and all that needs to be done is the passing of Bills in Parliament that will abolish the death penalty, and hopefully also result in the death sentence of all on death row to be commuted. This would enable Sirul to be brought back to Malaysia, and his evidence which may be vital for the successful prosecution of any other remaining perpetrators will finally happen.

In the recent United Nations General Assembly Resolution calling for the moratorium of executions pending the abolition of the death penalty, Malaysia, consistent with the new government’s declared position for the very first time voted in favour of the resolution.

The Altantuya case has also made us aware that there may be many others who have ordered or paid for some other to commit murder may still be out there free, and as such justice is not yet fully achieved. All these other persons who ordered or paid for such murders should also be identified, prosecuted, convicted and sentence.

In any criminal trial, it is of no use for a person who was involved in the commission of the crime to confess or plead guilty. Most will exercise their right to silence until all appeals are exhausted. These persons may also be subject to threats against themselves and their family members by them that ordered or paid them to kill. Those that admit they killed because they were paid to kill is still guilty of murder – so there is little reason to speak up and identify other accomplices who yet to be identified and/or prosecuted

When the death penalty is abolished, and better still any mandatory life prison sentence, the courts will then have the ability to impose a lower prison term for any or all who cooperated in making sure all others involved are also identified and prosecuted. This would be another mitigating factor that the courts can consider, but always ensuring that a just sentence is imposed.

It has been shown in Malaysia, that the death penalty, even if mandatory, does not deter crime.

Further, it is against religious values, even Islam, as death Malaysia is not provided for in Islamic Laws but civil laws, and the trial does not comply with Islamic evidential and procedural requirements. Note, that in Islam, even for murder, execution is a possibility as there is ‘diyat’(diya), where compensation and forgiveness from victim’s family can save a murderer from death – this highlights that repentance and/or forgiveness from victims is important, not simply punishment if you do a crime.

In Malaysia, for a long time, the lack of political will and strength on the part of government, despite the global trend towards abolition may have kept the death penalty in our law books. The fear of government to do the right and just thing simply because of a fear of a possible loss of political support is pathetic. Hopefully, this new Pakatan Harapan, unlike its predecessor, will not weaken and backtrack on its decision to abolish the death penalty.

Many expected that the relevant Bills leading to the abolition of the death penalty would have been tabled at the last Parliamentary session in 2018, and the hope now is that it will be tabled in the upcoming Parliamentary session starting on 11 March 2019.

It is sad that some have been calling for the retention of the death penalty, which may simply be those who are unaware of the just reasons for abolition. They may simply be opposing because this was the decision of the current government, and as such be merely a political strategy rather than one based on justice or values. They may also be people who fail to also appreciate the sufferings of the children and families, simply because a parent or sibling is executed. They fail to appreciate that even the mandatory death penalty has failed to reduce murder or drug trafficking in Malaysia.

Therefore, MADPET

– Call of Malaysia to ensure that all those, if any, who ordered or paid for the murder of Altantuya Shaariibuu are identified and prosecuted. The abolition of the death penalty will also make it less likely for accomplices including those who ordered or paid others to do the crime to escape justice, as the those caught and/or convicted will more likely help make this happen, if their assistance can affect/reduce sentences;

– Calls for the Malaysian Government to immediately, preferably during this upcoming Parliamentary session beginning in March 2019, to bravely table the relevant Bills that will see the abolition of the Death Penalty; and

– Calls for the Malaysian government to immediately commute the death sentences of all those on death row, which was about 1,267 in July 2018.

Charles Hector

For and on behalf of MADPET

- Malaysia Today, 14/2/2019

Delay in abolition of Death Penalty delays the bringing to justice all those involved in murder of Altantuya Shaariibuu

Delay in abolishing death penalty is justice delayed for Altantuya’s family, says group (Star/MSN)

Group says death penalty in the way of seeking truth behind Altantuya’s murder(FMT)

Delay in abolishing death penalty is justice delayed for Altantuya’s family, says group (Star/MSN)

Delay in abolishing death penalty is justice delayed for Altantuya’s family, says group

Nation,Thursday, 14 Feb 2019 1:05 PM MYT
by rashvinjeet s. bedi

PETALING JAYA: The hold-up in abolishing the mandatory death sentence is delaying justice in the murder of Mongolian Altantuya Shaariibuu, says a group campaigning against the death penalty.

Madpet (Malaysians Against Death Penalty and Torture) said that abolishing the death penalty would enable Sirul Azhar Umar, one of two people convicted for Altantuya’s murder, to be brought back home from Australia.

“It is now good that the current Cabinet has decided to abolish the death penalty, and all that needs to be done is the passing of Bills in Parliament that would abolish the death penalty, and hopefully also result in the death sentence of all on death row being commuted.

“This would enable Sirul to be brought back to Malaysia, and his evidence which may be vital for the successful prosecution of any other remaining perpetrators will finally happen,” said Madpet founder Charles Hector in a statement Thursday (Feb 14).

Australia takes into account whether or not the death penalty would be applied in that country in extradition cases.

Hector said the Altantuya case has also made Malaysians aware that there may be many others who ordered or paid for some other to commit murder who may still be out there free, and as such justice is not yet fully achieved.

“All these other persons who ordered or paid for such murders should also be identified, prosecuted, convicted and sentence,” he said.

He also called for the government to immediately table the relevant Bills that will see the abolition of the death penalty during in upcoming Parliamentary sitting beginning in March.

Last October, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Liew Vui Keong said the Cabinet would abolish the death penalty, with a moratorium for those on death row.

However, there have been protests from some quarters, including law enforcement officials and the families of some murder victims.

Earlier Thursday, Liew said the Cabinet would make the final decision on whether to bring the legislative amendments to Parliament in March.

In 2009, Sirul and Azilah Hadri were convicted of Altantuya’s murder and sentenced to death.

The Court of Appeal overturned their death sentences in 2013, but this was reinstated by the Federal Court after the prosecution filed an appeal.

However, Sirul fled to Australia and was detained by Immigration officials in Sydney after Interpol issued a Red Notice for him.

He has been held at the Villawood detention camp in Sydney since 2015. - Star, 14/2/2019

Delay in abolishing death penalty is justice delayed for Altantuya’s family, says group

RASHVINJEET S. BEDI

PETALING JAYA: The hold-up in abolishing the mandatory death sentence is delaying justice in the murder of Mongolian Altantuya Shaariibuu, says a group campaigning against the death penalty.

Madpet (Malaysians Against Death Penalty and Torture) said that abolishing the death penalty would enable Sirul Azhar Umar, one of two people convicted for Altantuya’s murder, to be brought back home from Australia.

“It is now good that the current Cabinet has decided to abolish the death penalty, and all that needs to be done is the passing of Bills in Parliament that would abolish the death penalty, and hopefully also result in the death sentence of all on death row being commuted.

“This would enable Sirul to be brought back to Malaysia, and his evidence which may be vital for the successful prosecution of any other remaining perpetrators will finally happen,” said Madpet founder

Charles Hector in a statement Thursday (Feb 14).

Australia takes into account whether or not the death penalty would be applied in that country in extradition cases.

Hector said the Altantuya case has also made Malaysians aware that there may be many others who ordered or paid for some other to commit murder who may still be out there free, and as such justice is not yet fully achieved.

“All these other persons who ordered or paid for such murders should also be identified, prosecuted, convicted and sentence,” he said.

He also called for the government to immediately table the relevant Bills that will see the abolition of the death penalty during in upcoming Parliamentary sitting beginning in March.

Last October, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Liew Vui Keong said the Cabinet would abolish the death penalty, with a moratorium for those on death row.

However, there have been protests from some quarters, including law enforcement officials and the families of some murder victims.

Earlier Thursday, Liew said the Cabinet would make the final decision on whether to bring the legislative amendments to Parliament in March.

In 2009, Sirul and Azilah Hadri were convicted of Altantuya’s murder and sentenced to death.

The Court of Appeal overturned their death sentences in 2013, but this was reinstated by the Federal Court after the prosecution filed an appeal.

However, Sirul fled to Australia and was detained by Immigration officials in Sydney after Interpol issued a Red Notice for him.

He has been held at the Villawood detention camp in Sydney since 2015.- MSN, 15/2/2019

See Full Statement -

Delay in abolition of Death Penalty delays the bringing to justice all those involved in murder of Altantuya Shaariibuu

Group says death penalty in the way of seeking truth behind Altantuya’s murder(FMT)

The media statement Delay in abolition of Death Penalty delays the bringing to justice all those involved in murder of Altantuya Shaariibuu

Group says death penalty in the way of seeking truth behind Altantuya’s murder

FMT Reporters

February 14, 2019 11:35 AM

Former policeman Sirul Azhar Umar, one of two men sentenced to death for the murder of Altantuya Shaariibuu.

PETALING JAYA: A group campaigning for the abolition of the death penalty says doing away with the punishment would help bring to justice those responsible in the Altantuya Shaariibuu murder case.

Malaysians Against Death Penalty and Torture (Madpet) was referring to Australia’s refusal to release Sirul Azhar Umar, one of two men sentenced to death for the murder of the Mongolian citizen in 2006.

Sirul has since sought refuge in an immigration centre in Sydney, with Canberra saying it is not allowed by Australian laws to deport him due to the death sentence awaiting him in Malaysia.

Australian laws prohibit the extradition of anyone to face the death penalty in his home country.

Madpet said cancelling Sirul’s death sentence would allow him to be returned to Malaysian authorities to assist investigators in shedding light on the brutal murder of Altantuya.

“The abolition of the death penalty will make those who ordered or paid others to do the crime be identified, as those caught or convicted will more likely help make this happen if their assistance can reduce the sentences imposed,” Madpet spokesman Charles Hector said in a statement today.

He also questioned the delay in amending the laws to do away with the death sentence despite Putrajaya’s promise.

Madpet said supporters of the death penalty appeared unaware of the “just reasons” for its abolition, or could be furthering a political strategy.

“They may also be people who fail to appreciate the suffering of the children and families, simply because a parent or sibling is executed.

“They fail to appreciate that even the mandatory death penalty has failed to reduce murder or drug trafficking in Malaysia,” Hector said. - FMT, 14/2/2019

Wednesday, February 13, 2019

Delay in abolition of Death Penalty delays the bringing to justice all those involved in murder of Altantuya Shaariibuu

Media Statement – 14/2/2019

Delay in abolition of Death Penalty delays the bringing to justice all those involved in murder of Altantuya Shaariibuu

Table Bills To Abolish Death Penalty in Parliament Session Starting 11^th March

In 2015, Sirul was reported saying, ‘"I was under orders. The important people with motive (to commit murder) are still free," Sirul Azhar Umar said in a phone interview published on Wednesday by Malaysian news website Malaysiakini.’(Straits Times, 18/2/2015).

It has been shown in Malaysia, that the death penalty, even if mandatory, does not deter crime.

Therefore, MADPET

- Call of Malaysia to ensure that all those, if any, who ordered or paid for the murder of Altantuya Shaariibuu are identified and prosecuted. The abolition of the death penalty will also make it less likely for accomplices including those who ordered or paid others to do the crime to escape justice, as the those caught and/or convicted will more likely help make this happen, if their assistance can affect/reduce sentences;

- Calls for the Malaysian Government to immediately, preferably during this upcoming Parliamentary session beginning in March 2019, to bravely table the relevant Bills that will see the abolition of the Death Penalty; and

- Calls for the Malaysian government to immediately commute the death sentences of all those on death row, which was about 1,267 in July 2018.

Charles Hector

For and on behalf of MADPET