KUALA LUMPUR: Former police officer Sirul Azhar Umar, who was convicted over the murder of Mongolian Altantuya Sharibu in 2006 could be recaptured as the Australian government is in the process of enforcing a new law designed to place threatening offenders back behind bars.
According to a report published by the Sydney Morning Herald, Sirul was mentioned as one of the most notorious criminals freed among 148 individuals released by the High Court in November.
"One of the most notorious of the 148 people freed after the High Court decision is Sirul, a Malaysian hitman who fled to Australia shortly before he was sentenced to death for the murder of a 28-year-old woman, Altantuyaa, in his home country in 2015," it said.
Following this, the amendment to the law would enable the government to ask the court to return a former detainee to custody for up to three years, provided they have a prior conviction for a violent or sexual crime carrying a maximum sentence of at least seven years.
The decision, however, could only be made if a judge concurs that the individual is likely to commit another offence.
The amendment also applies to people convicted of the same kind of offences overseas, where it permits judges to detain someone solely based on a foreign conviction.
The report also disclosed that in documents related to the amendment, the Australian government has acknowledged its legislation could breach human rights relating to discrimination.
This was because Australian citizens who have been convicted of similar offences are not subjected to similar restrictions.
The Australian government is pushing to pass the law before Parliament adjourns for the year on Friday.
Last month, the Australian government, with the support of the opposition passed new rules that required former detainees to be fitted with ankle bracelets and abide by night-time curfews.
Sirul was among those required to wear an electronic monitoring device to allow the Australian authorities to monitor his whereabouts following his release on Nov 8.
Sirul left Malaysia for Australia in 2015 after filing an appeal against the decision in the Federal Court. A five-judge panel had unanimously upheld his death sentence over Altantuya's murder.
He had been detained by Australian authorities, but he could not be sent back to Malaysia due to the country's policy of not repatriating individuals facing the death penalty in their home country.