The High Commission of Malaysia in Wellington. Its Second Warrant Officer Muhammad Rizalman Ismail who fled criminal charges after invoking diplomatic immunity, is to be extradited from Malaysia, but his return is now in doubt after doctors held him at a hospital for psychiatric evaluation. – AFP pic, July 6, 2014.
The return of a Malaysian diplomatic aide to New Zealand to face charges of sexual assault and burglary is now in doubt, after doctors ordered more tests as he seemed withdrawn and depressed, The New Zealand Herald reported.
Second Warrant Officer Muhammad Rizalman Ismail was to be flown back to Wellington tomorrow, but a source at Tuanku Mizan Military Hospital in Kuala Lumpur, where Rizalman has been warded since Tuesday, told the daily last night that the diplomat was "not looking good".
A senior doctor at the hospital confirmed the 38-year-old might need further psychiatric evaluation, said the Herald's Sunday edition, Herald on Sunday.
The paper said a decision on whether Rizalman was fit to stand trial rests with the Malaysian government, and last night New Zealand Foreign Minister Murray McCully was unable to give assurances that the diplomat would return.
Meanwhile, the Herald said fresh details had emerged of the alleged offences.
It said on May 9, Rizalman had allegedly followed the 21-year-old woman from a bus stop to her Brooklyn house, before breaking in and undressing himself. The woman fought him off and neighbours went to her aid.
The married father of three is alleged to have fled the house but waited outside for police to show up, the Herald reported.
McCully refused to comment last night, saying the case was before the courts.
Rizalman's case hogged the headlines both in Malaysia and New Zealand after it was reported that he had returned to Malaysia after invoking diplomatic immunity, despite his arrest on May 9 for attempted burglary and sexual assault.
It was reported that Malaysia had asked New Zealand to drop all charges against Rizalman.
"The High Commission of Malaysia would also like to seek the cooperation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade of New Zealand and the New Zealand police to kindly consider sealing all documentations pertaining to the above mentioned matter and withdrawing all charges against Mr Muhammad Rizalman Ismail,” a letter sent by the Malaysian government to New Zealand’s Foreign Affairs Ministry had stated.
In return, the government had said it would ensure Rizalman does not return to New Zealand in future.
The High Commission had also written that it would not waive Rizalman’s diplomatic immunity and would have him brought back to Malaysia.
Putrajaya, however, later announced that it had decided to extradite Rizalman.
Wellington had also admitted that its officials had not made it clear that they wanted Malaysia to waive diplomatic immunity for Rizalman.
Reports have said that Malaysian officials were given mixed messages by New Zealand’s Foreign Affairs Ministry, leading them to believe that Wellington had agreed to Rizalman's repatriation to Malaysia.
The ministry, it was reported, had clearly told Malaysian officials during talks between both countries that it wanted Malaysia to waive Rizalman's immunity in order to bring sexual assault and burglary charges against him.
However, it became "ambiguous" to Malaysian officials after the ministry's mid-level officials had also engaged in several unofficial discussions, leading Malaysia to conclude that New Zealand had agreed for the diplomat to return home instead of facing charges.
McCully had said that he was angry about the mistakes his officials had made over the incident, which had left him and Prime Minister John Key embarrassed.
- TMI
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.