(The Star) – Former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir said he is willing to meet the mother of Sirul Azhar Umar, the ex-police commando who has been convicted over the murder of Mongolian model Altantuya Shaariibuu.
Sirul’s mother had expressed her wish to meet Dr Mahathir after the latter had spoken out against the conviction of Sirul in his blog, calling it unfair.
“I am prepared to meet her or anybody,” said Dr Mahathir, when asked by reporters after he gave an address at the What Youth Should Know leadership conference here on Saturday.
During a question-and-answer session at the conference Dr Mahathir said Sirul should be given the chance to state his case if he was acting on instructions when he killed Altantuya.
“You cannot accuse a person of murder unless you have proof. Obviously here someone is murdered and someone committed the murder. And someone has also complained that he was asked to do it.
“The question that should be asked a long time ago is who asked him to do it. Until now there is no indication of who asked him to do it, but he (Sirul) should be given a chance to state his case, otherwise he is going to be hanged to death,” said Dr Mahathir.
Dr Mahathir was asked by a participant of the conference if he had any idea who asked Sirul to murder Altantuya.
“Sirul was my bodyguard when I was Prime Minister. He did not murder anyone at that time so it could not have been me!” said Dr Mahathir, drawing laughter from the crowd.
He added that it was “not fair” to hang Sirul if he had acted upon orders.
“This involves a man’s life. He has been trained to carry out orders so it is not fair to hang him,” said Dr Mahathir.
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