New Zealand's Foreign Minister says a Malaysian waiver of immunity to speed up the return of the diplomat has not been granted swiftly enough.
WELLINGTON: Nobody seems to know when the Malaysian crime-accused diplomat will be returned to New Zealand.
New Zealand’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Murray McCully said the precise date is “completely in the hands of the lawyers.”
The diplomat Muhammad Rizalman bin Ismail, 38, is accused of assault with intent to rape Tania Billingsley on May 9.
The New Zealand Herald quotes McCully as saying he told the Malaysian government that Rizalman is going to get a fair trial in New Zealand, which is “not prejudiced with a lot of loose talk”.
“My job here is to try and make sure that the Malaysian government can have confidence in our system. I’m not going to get tied up in a domestic debate, even though it’s coming close to an election.”
“I’m doing my level best to make sure that’s the case, and that it’s not prejudiced with a lot of loose talk.”
Asked to explain problems discovered in a review of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade in the handling of the incident, McCully said an overworked staff member didn’t open a relevant email until after the matter became a public issue in the early part of July.
Rizalman was arrested May 10 on charges of burglary and attempted rape following an alleged attack on a young woman in the Wellington suburb of Brooklyn.
The same day the ministry issued a formal request for diplomatic immunity to be waived. The request was rebuffed and Rizalman left New Zealand on May 22.
Muhammad Rizalman was a former defence staff assistant attached to the Malaysian High Commission.
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