Altantuya murder case: Sirul Azhar left for Australia in October, says police

This has been confirmed by Bukit Aman CID director Datuk Mohmad Salleh after checking the Malaysian Immigration Department records.

"To date, the Malaysian Immigration Department has confirmed that he went abroad, namely Australia. He went there in October last year.

"We will liaise with the Australian Federal Police if he is there, but if he has left for other destinations, we will liaise with Interpol to arrest him.

"We will definitely seek the cooperation of the international police," he said when contacted by Bernama today.

It is understood the police would issue a 'Red Notice' to Interpol to help detect Sirul Azhar, and an application for the extradition will be made with the country concerned.

According to the portal of the Attorney-General's Chambers, Malaysia has concluded treaties on extradition with six countries, including Australia, with which the treaty is effective from Dec 28, 2006.

Sirul Azhar, who is the second accused in the murder of the Mongolian woman, did not attend the Federal Court for sentencing yesterday, as he is abroad. The court issued a warrant of arrest against him.

Yesterday, the court sentenced Sirul Azhar and first accused Chief Inspector Azilah Hadri to death after finding them guilty of murdering Altantuya, nine years ago.

The Federal Court also unanimously set aside the decision of the Appeals Court on Aug 23, 2013, which freed the duo.

The Federal Court found the Appeals Court had made a mistake in its decision.