Sirul also said there is stigma attached to him because of that one case [murder of Altantuya].
As a police officer and later with the Special Actions Unit, he pointed out that he had apprehended and killed others in the line of duty under orders.
“I do it for the country, as all is done under orders. That is how the unit works. But I am upset when people accuse me, or say something bad about me and my family,” he said.
The job with the Special Actions Unit, he added, had destroyed his family life, as he had to divorce his wife in 2003. He retained custody of his two children, however….
Sirul has been in detention at the Immigration and Border Protection Department’s facility in Sydney for the past three years, after the Federal Court found him and chief inspector Azilah Hadri guilty of Altantuya’s murder.
In another exclusive interview with Malaysiakini, Sirul said that the key witness who had not been called was his former superior, Musa Safri, the aide-de-camp of Najib, who was deputy prime minister at the time.
This was cited as the main reason for the Court of Appeal’s acquittal of Azilah and Sirul.
Sirul has made some highly relevant points in yet another ill-advised outburst from his prison cell. The first is that the key witness in the Altantuya case, who needs to be hauled before detectives and then deposed in court is his former Special Actions Unit boss, Musa Safri.
Musa Safri was the man in charge of Najib’s protection at the time of the murder and we already know he was tasked with managing the problem over Altantuya’s threats to Razak Baginda. Later he escaped being called as a witness (or rather suspect) and went on to be promoted.
The key question Musa Safri is required to answer is who instructed him to order his juniors to kill Altantuya and why? Evidence that the young woman appeared to be pregnant and was claiming she knew who the father was seem relevant in this context of a motive.
Sirul has raised another shocking matter, which Sarawak Report has already heard of through other sources. He has stated that his ‘Special Actions Unit’ was tasked with other murders also. What Sirul describes are known as extra-judicial killings. It is a hallmark of brutal dictatorships that have abandoned the rule of law.
The key witness so far kept out of court, Musa Safri, needs to give detailed responses on this matter also.
As for Sirul, he pulled the trigger and took the cash. By this stage his testimony is of limited value given his constant lies and willingness to continue to play Najib’s games in return for cash, instead of confessing to the truth over his months in detention in Australia.
Sirul needs to realise that what he has to say no longer counts for much. He needs to change his mindset if he thinks he can continue to blackmail and bargain over the terms of his just punishment – now Malaysia has returned to the rule of law.