For the past three weeks, former Malaysian cop Sirul Azhar Umar has been living in Canberra after being freed from a detention centre where he spent almost nine years.
He had been detained following his flight to Australia, after he was sentenced to death in Malaysia in 2015 for the murder of a 28-year-old Mongolian woman.
But he and 140 other foreign nationals in Australia - including those involved in serious crimes who were released are in legal limbo and could yet be returned to detention.
Sirul was given the death sentence for the 2006 murder of Ms Altantuya Shaariibuu, a translator and the alleged lover of Mr Abdul Razak Baginda, a one-time associate of former Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak.
She was abducted outside Mr Abdul Razak's home before being shot in a clearing on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur. Her body was blown up using military-grade explosives. At the time of her murder, she was pregnant.
Sirul fled to Australia while on release pending an appeal against his death penalty. His asylum claim was rejected but he was not sent back to Malaysia because Australia has a policy of not deporting people who face the death penalty.
However, Australia was forced to free Sirul and others in November after the High Court ruled that the government cannot indefinitely detain foreign nationals.
The decision has left the Labor government scrambling for options, particularly as it faces pressure from the opposition to find a way to re-detain the released foreigners.
The government announced on Nov 28 that it plans to rush through new laws to allow preventive detention of serious offenders who pose a risk to the community.
Denne historien er fra December 02, 2023-utgaven av The Straits Times.
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Denne historien er fra December 02, 2023-utgaven av The Straits Times.
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