He said it would be difficult for the Australian government to hand over Sirul as long as Malaysia’s death penalty remained.

“The problem is that only the mandatory requirement for our death penalty has been abolished.

“The Australian government previously said it would not cooperate with us as long as the punishment remains in force. It still is, and the sentence has already been given. That’s the problem,” Razarudin said.

Sirul was previously sentenced to death for murdering Mongolian national Altantuya Shaariibuu in 2006.

He was arrested in Australia by the immigration authorities there in 2015, and released after nine years in custody at the Villawood Immigration Detention Centre.

Razarudin said Sirul could apply for a review of his death sentence.

“Sirul can return to Malaysia with a lawyer or on his own to appeal to the court for a review,” he said.

Commutation to imprisonment a condition for extradition

Meanwhile, at a press conference in Parliament, home minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said the government could initiate the extradition process with Australia to bring Sirul back only if his death sentence was commuted to imprisonment.

Saifuddin said the onus was on Sirul to apply for a review through his lawyer in Malaysia following the abolishment of the mandatory death penalty.

“Sirul has the right to submit an application (through his lawyer). If that and all the other processes have been done, only then can we invoke the extradition process,” he said.

“That is, if there is a change to his death sentence, which is still hypothetical.”