Altantuya murder: On what grounds was Sirul arrested, lawyer asks

Sirul Azhar Umar, who is currently in immigration detention in Queensland, Brisbane has contacted his defense team and instructed the counsel to pursue necessary legal proceedings in the Malaysian court, said lawyer Kamarul Hisham Kamaruddin.

“We have contacted Sirul and was given the mandate to take any legal action permitted under these circumstances,” said Kamarul Hisham when contacted by Astro AWANI .

He stated that the next move to be taken by the defense counsel team depends on the actions by the Malaysian authorities.

“We need to know the official status of his (Sirul) detention. Is his detention based on immigration law or the result of the red notice issuance by the International Police (Interpol) for his arrest.

"So far, nobody seems to know anything and it is paramount for us to verify it first,” said Kamarul, adding that to date, news about the arrest of Sirul can only be obtained from reports published by Australian media.

Sirul is subjected to extradition by Malaysian Federal Court and he faces death sentence after found guilty in conviction of murder to Mongolian model and translator, Altantuya Shaariibuu.

The Malaysian government insisted that Sirul be arrested and sent back to Kuala Lumpur, where the country's Federal Court has ordered that he and former police chief inspector Azilah Hadri, 38, be executed.

Last week, Bernama reported that Sirul’s defence counsel team would mount challenge of the extradition request against him.

Kamarul said the next step depends on the instruction from his client.