Friday 29 Mar 2024
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(Sept 10): Robert Kandralingam Chelliah, the son of a rubber tapper from Sungei Siput, Perak hitch-hiked across the world in the late 1950s to get an education before migrating to Perth, Australia, four decades ago.

But never in his wildest dreams did he imagine that he would be at the centre of the highly sensitive, politically-charged case of Sirul Azhar Umar.

Sirul, 43, the former Malaysian police commando facing a death sentence for the murder of Mongolian national Altantuya Shaaribuu, is being held by Australian authorities at the Villawood detention centre near Sydney since his arrest in Brisbane last January.

The 76-year-old migration agent recently explained to The Malaysian Insider how he became involved in the case.

"There is no real mystery behind my involvement and there is nothing clandestine about it, contrary to some reports," he said in an exclusive interview.

Questions had been raised recently over his involvement in the case, with some quarters asking why Sirul's lawyers had chosen Chelliah, who is based 4,000km away in Perth, Western Australia, instead of engaging agents closer to where Sirul is being detained, nearer the east coast of the continent.

"I am not a paid agent of the Malaysian government or anyone. I conduct myself absolutely professionally in the best interests of my client, irrespective of my client's background," he said.

"I was approached by Sirul's Malaysian lawyers to help Sirul apply for an Australian protection visa.

"It was a complex case, so I helped the lawyers (Kamrul Hisham and Hasnal Rezua) engage Sydney migration solicitor Christopher Levingstone, who in turn hired me as case manager."

After Sirul was arrested in Brisbane on January 20 on an Interpol red alert and moved to Villawood, Chelliah aired his views on the complexities of the case in an internet forum of leading Malaysian citizens.

"I clarified the rights of a convicted person with a death sentence seeking protection in Australia under migration law, and also sent the clarification to lawyers Kamrul and Hasrul," Chelliah said.

"I was then asked by the lawyers to help. So Christopher, an expert in complex migration cases, and I, with Bahasa Malaysia and cross-cultural advantage, became involved in March.

"I helped to prepare the paperwork for the protection visa, which was lodged in April. Our role was solely to apply for the visa."

Chelliah, however, declined to reveal how much he was paid, saying he was governed by migration agent rules that did not permit him to reveal his fees or speak about his clients.

However, he said he received a "modest sum" from lawyer Levingstone, and had "no knowledge" whether the money came from foreign sources with Malaysian government links.

It is widely believed that Sirul, a former bodyguard attached to Seri Perdana, does not have the means to pay for his legal representation, particularly Australian lawyers.

But whether there is a clandestine campaign in high-profile circles in Malaysia to fund Sirul and buy his silence is purely a matter of speculation.

Sirul entered Australia on October 14 last year with a valid passport and tourist visa to live with his 19-year-old son near Brisbane.

Last January 13, the Malaysian Federal Court reversed a lower court verdict to find Sirul and Azilah Hadri guilty of murdering Altantuya in 2006.

The Mongolian translator, reputedly involved in Malaysian-French submarine purchase negotiations, was murdered before her body was blown up with C4 explosives on October 18, 2006. Abdul Razak Baginda, former confidante of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, was charged but acquitted in 2008.

Najib has rejected speculation about his involvement, saying he has never met Altantuya.

Sirul is currently in legal limbo at the Villawood centre. He faces extradition to Malaysia but Putrajaya does not appear to have exercised the right to seek extradition. At the same time, the Australian authorities will not send him back until Malaysia gives an assurance that it will not carry out the death penalty.

While this imbroglio plays out, the Australian immigration department and the minister responsible are unlikely to act swiftly to resolve Sirul's case or to give him a protection visa that would allow him to walk from detention and live in the Australian community.

Sirul could be stuck in Villawood for a long time. It is not uncommon for detainees in complex cases to be locked up for 10 years.

"Nobody knows how long the visa application will take, it's been with the department since April," Chelliah said.

Chelliah left Sungei Siput for Sweden and the United Kingdom in 1957 to study and then to Singapore, where he completed his higher education before moving to Perth to work as a social worker and later as an ethnic affairs officer, jobs that involved migration matters and resettlement of migrant families.

In 1990, he retired as the principal ethnic affairs officer with the West Australian government to become a registered migration agent. – The Malaysian Insider

 

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