PUTRAJAYA - The Federal Court has commuted former chief inspector Azilah Hadri’s death sentence to 40 years in prison for murdering Mongolian woman Altantuya Shaariibuu in 2006.
A three-member Federal Court bench, led by Chief Justice Tun Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat, allowed Azilah’s review application today to commute his death sentence to imprisonment.
The court also sentenced Azilah to 12 strokes of the cane and ordered that his imprisonment begin from the date of his arrest on Nov 1, 2006, excluding the period of about one year and four months during which he was released by the Court of Appeal in 2013.
The panel also consisted of Court of Appeal President Tan Sri Datuk Abang Iskandar Abang Hashim and Federal Court judge Datuk Nordin Hassan.
In the unanimous decision, Justice Tengku Maimun said Azilah’s supporting affidavit provided strong mitigating factors and valid reasons for the court to exercise its discretion in favour of him.
Justice Tengku Maimun said the affidavit had also exhibited a letter from the victim’s father who had expressly supported Azilah’s review application.
Azilah, 48, has been in prison for 16 years and three months.
Earlier, Azilah’s lawyer J.Kuldeep Kumar read in the court a letter by Altantuya’s father Shaariibuu Setev supporting Azilah’s application.
After the court proceedings ended, Kuldeep told reporters that Azilah would be released in 2034.
Azilah was convicted in 2009, along with former policeman Corporal Sirul Azhar Umar, 53, for murdering Altantuya, which took place at Mukim Bukit Raja in Shah Alam between 10 pm on Oct 19 and 1 am the following day in 2006. The Shah Alam High Court sentenced both men to death.
Political analyst Abdul Razak Baginda, meanwhile, was acquitted by Shah Alam High Court of abetting the murder.
On appeal, both Azilah and Sirul were discharged and acquitted by the Court of Appeal in 2013. However, in 2015, the Federal Court overturned their acquittal and confirmed their conviction and death penalty.
Sirul Azhar did not show up in court in 2015 for the Federal Court’s decision. He is believed to be in Australia. - BERNAMA