Why can’t I help Sirul? Dr M asks

(Malay Mail Online) – Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has defended his recent bid to save former police commando Sirul Azhar Umar from his death sentence, saying every murder convict deserves the opportunity to have his appeal for pardon heard.

The former prime minister also reasoned that Sirul, who was convicted of murdering Mongolian model Altantuya Shaarriibuu, had once been his bodyguard.

“I did not talk about this for a long, long time. But these two… they have been convicted of murder. You have to help them, save them,” he said in an interview with blogger Din Turtle that was uploaded yesterday.

Dr Mahathir was referring to both Sirul and his murder accomplice, another former police commando Azilah Hadri.

“Sirul was once my bodyguard. Can’t I help him? He is being sentenced to hang, you know,” the former prime minister continued in the interview.

He later pointed out that policemen would not kill others unless they are acting under orders or are doing so in self-defence, raising again his demand that investigators probe Sirul’s claim that he had been instructed to commit the 2006 murder.

Dr Mahathir also defended his meeting with Sirul’s mother Piah Samat earlier this week, saying he has no reason to reject the invite.

He said during the meeting, Piah had not been able to speak much, clearly indicating that she and her family have been “living in fear”.

“If he (Sirul) really went and killed someone (of his own accord)… then hang (him). But he is a policeman and policemen don’t kill people unless those people attacked him or there are people who asked them to do it,” Dr Mahathir said.

“Every person who is sentenced to death has the privilege to have his appeal being heard by the King or by the Sultan and the King and the Sultan…,” he trailed off before jokingly pointing out to his interviewee that “I was once a prime minister, you know”.

Dr Mahathir then went on to say that during his tenure as prime minister, it had been his duty to advise the Yang di-Pertuan Agong on death row inmates seeking to have their sentences commuted.

“My duty to advise the King or the Sultan whether to carry out the death sentence or not. With Botak Chin, I said, hang him,” the former prime minister added, referring to the notorious Malaysian gangster in the 1960s who was sentenced to hang in 1981.

“It is not easy, you know, to decide to kill a person,” he said.

In a televised interview on TV3 on Thursday, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak responded to several allegations and remarks made against his administration by Dr Mahathir, including his statements on the Altantuya murder.

Najib said in the interview that Dr Mahathir had never in the past questioned if he had been involved in the 2006 case and also considered the topic to be a non-issue.

When asked why he thought Dr Mahathir was raising the issue now, Najib said it was because the former prime minister wanted him to discontinue the 1 Malaysia People’s Aid (BR1M) and revive the “Crooked Bridge” linking Johor to the Causeway.

Abdul Razak Baginda, a former aide to Najib, had been charged with abetting Sirul and Azilah, the two accused of murdering Altantuya in the 2006 murder, but was later acquitted.

Sirul had been part of Najib’s security detail when the latter was still deputy prime minister.

Dr Mahathir, the country’s longest-serving former prime minister, has repeatedly targeted Najib’s leadership by accusing the latter of failing to dispel allegations such as that dogging state-owned investment firm 1MDB and its debts.

Last week, Dr Mahathir suggested in a blog post that BN could end up losing power in the next general election because of falling confidence in the current administration.

Last weekend, the former prime minister urged the police to investigate the former police commando’s claim that he killed Altantuya under orders, saying it was “grossly unfair” to send hang Sirul for obeying instructions.