KUALA LUMPUR: Former chief inspector Azilah Hadri will have his day in court today to try to persuade the Federal Court to commute his death sentence to imprisonment in the high-profile murder case of Mongolian supermodel Altantuya Shaariibuu in 2006.
A three-member bench of the Apex Court is expected to hear Azilah's application to review his death sentence following the enactment of the Mandatory Death Penalty Abolition Act 2023, which took effect on July 4 last year.
Azilah was among some 1,000 detainees who have applied for a review of their death sentences.
According to the trial, Altantuya was shot dead before her body was blown up with explosives at a secluded spot near the Subang Dam in Puncak Alam, Shah Alam, by Azilah and Sirul Azhar Umar, who is also a former cop.
In 2009, the Shah Alam High Court imposed the death penalty against the duo after finding them guilty of murdering Altantuya.
Even if the Appellate court has ruled to free Azilah and Sirul from the charges, the Federal Court in 2015 overturned the decision and upheld the death sentence imposed by the High Court.
Sirul Azhar fled to Australia and was later apprehended by Australian immigration, while Azilah has been serving his sentence as a death row inmate since then.
He filed a review over the top court's ruling in 2019, together with his 32-page statutory declaration, which claims that the order to kill Altantuya had come from Datuk Seri Najib Razak, who was the deputy prime minister.
He also had sought to set aside his conviction and death sentence imposed by the Federal Court on Jan 13, 2015, and an order for retrial.
However, his application was dismissed by a five-man bench led by the then Chief Judge of Malaya Tan Sri Azahar Mohamed on Dec 8, 2020.
The court ruled that Azilah's application ruled that the latter had not shown that there was injustice in his case.
Azilah is currently in Sungai Buloh prison awaiting a decision from the state pardon board.