'No one speaks for Sirul, not even his mum'

Anyone who claimed to speak on behalf of Sirul Azhar Umar cannot be trusted, including Sirul Azhar's mother, said his lawyer Kamarul Hisham Kamaruddin.

The only statement that can be verified is the one Sirul Azhar makes under oath, he said.

He said he was aware that Sirul Azhar's mother, Piah Samat, and several media personnel had claimed that the former police commando had admitted he was instructed to take action that led to the death of Mongolian national Altantuya Shaariibuu.

"But unless and until that statement is made under oath, we are hearing statements from somebody else; it doesn't matter who.

"It could be the mother, uncle, cousin, son or any other person who said I had spoken to him (Sirul Azhar) . Now, how do you determine that was what he (Sirul Azhar) said, how do you determine the context," he said at a press conference.

The Federal Court had sentenced Sirul Azhar to death for the 2006 murder of Altantuya.

Kamarul Hisham had denied that Sirul Azhar had told the media (in Australia) he was under instruction to commit the murder and that his mother told Sydney Morning Herald that "Sirul could never done this himself".

Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad also reportedly said Sirul Azhar had acted under instruction.

Malaysiakini first broke the news that Sirul Azhr had admitted he acted under instruction and was mulling whether to speak to the media aboutwhat happened to Altantuya.

"This is not just a technical legal position... it is a very clear danger that this can be misinterpreted," said Kamarul Hisham.

Sirul Azhar is now applying for a protection visa in Australia so he could still stay there.

"My concern is not whether Sirul Azhar said something or not; my concern is to protect the sanctity of the process (application of protection visa) he is facing now," added Kamarul Hisham.

However, he said he has no plans to challenge the news reports (on the remarks made Sirul Azhar to the media).

Sirul Azhar did not show up at the Federal Court on Jan 13 to hear the death verdict. He fled to Australia and was subsequently arrested and placed in a detention centre there.

Malaysia is having difficulty to have him extradited as the law there is preventing such a move.

Meanwhile, Kamarul Hisham denied that the police had met Sirul Azhar in Australia.

"We are not aware the police have made any request to meet him at the detention centre," he said.

In April, inspector-general of police Khalid Abu Bakar had said the police went to Australia to meet Sirul Azhar and found no issue to conduct further probe, following a series of revelation by the former police commando. -Mkini