It was not difficult to locate Piah Samat in her village in Perak's Changkat Jering as she is well-known due to her son, Sirul Azhar Umar.

When Malaysiakini visited her yesterday, the petite 74-year-old woman had just returned from a Quran class.

Though news reports on her meeting with PAS leaders had left Piah suspicious of the media, she nevertheless spoke a little about her son, the former police commando sentenced to death for murdering Mongolian national Altantuya Shaariibuu.

Piah said the last time she met him was after the Court of Appeal acquitted Sirul, the fourth of eight sons.

"We held a thanksgiving ceremony for him when he came back to the kampung," she recalled, fighting back tears.

According to Piah, Sirul, 43, hardly returned home to visit as he was "busy escorting ministers".

Prior to his arrest, Sirul (left) served as a bodyguard to Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak, who was then deputy premier.

Asked if Sirul always harboured an ambition to be a policeman, Piah said he was offered the job after he completed his SPM examination.

"He wanted to retake his SPM to get better results but he was offered the job and left for Kuala Lumpur," she said.

'I never said I wanted him to come back'

However, when quizzed on her remarks that were reported, Piah appeared shocked but refused to comment on the claims that she had said her son was "betrayed".

However, PAS organ Harakah later clarified that its report had used the term "dianiaya" (wronged) and not "dikhianati" (betrayed).

On another note, Piah denied saying that she wanted her son to return as reported.

"I never said I wanted him to come back," she said. "It is not like you can trust the newspapers very much."

Reports had quoted Piah as stating that the family hopes Sirul would be freed despite being convicted of murder.

She purportedly made these remarks when PAS information chief Mahfuz Omar and Youth chief Suhaizan Kaiat visited her.

When Malaysiakini pressed her, Piah (left) seemed visibly shaken.

"I don't know what to say anymore," she replied.

Her fear was obvious as she tried to avoid the reporter's gaze and turned the other way as the latter attempted to push for more answers.

Meanwhile, her friend Hafsiah, also 74, said that Piah is not well as she is worried about her son.

"We are worried for her too. She has high blood pressure and diabetes," she added.

'Being made into a scapegoat'

Hafsiah also revealed that she knew Sirul when he was little, as the two families have been living in the village for decades.

"He was just a normal boy who played football with my kids before he left the village," she added.

During his murder trial, Sirul himself caused a stir when he claimed that he was being made into a "scapegoat" to protect certain quarters.

Earlier this month, the Federal Court had overturned his and another ex-police commando Azilah Hadri's (right) acquittal.

The apex court convicted the pair and sentenced them to death, but Sirul was absent, with news later emerging that he had been overseas for two months.

Sirul is currently under the detention of the Australian Immigration and Border Protection Department.

Malaysia is attempting to extradite him, but Australian law dictates that a person facing the death penalty in his or her home country cannot be sent back.