The Malaysian Insider – 5 hours agoRELATED CONTENT
- Putrajaya slams Anwar for tarnishing country’s image over diplomat’s case
Putrajaya has accused opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim of tarnishing the country's image by alleging in an interview to New Zealand media that there has been a cover-up in the case of the diplomat accused of sexual assault in Wellington.
In a statement issued last night, Putrajaya said Anwar's allegation was "completely false" and was yet another attempt "to opportunistically damage Malaysia’s reputation for personal political gain".
"Anwar also said Malaysia’s handling of the case has been 'appalling' and a 'fiasco'. This is in contrast to the position of the New Zealand government, who thanked the Malaysian government for the 'integrity with which they have approached this issue', (and) said the Malaysian side has 'acted entirely in good faith' and is 'absolutely committed to the alleged offender facing a proper judicial process'," the statement said.
Putrajaya also slammed Anwar for consistently trying to smear the country’s reputation in international media.
"For example, during the MH370 tragedy, he implied that Malaysian officials were complicit in a terrorist act. And he alleged that the cargo manifest had been deleted or covered-up, when in fact it had been publicly released.”
Anwar’s allegation on the sexual assault case was published in New Zealand’s Stuff news website yesterday.
The opposition leader had said that it was beyond belief that the Malaysian High Commission had requested all charges against Muhammad Rizalman Ismail be withdrawn on the grounds of diplomatic immunity.
“I am appalled that they had the audacity to suggest that an attempted rape and assault crime should be withdrawn on the basis of diplomatic immunity.”
“I know how rotten the failure of the governance here is, but I cannot imagine that we can write to a different country and request the withdrawal of these criminal charges,” he was quoted as saying on the website.
It was reported two days ago that Malaysia had in May asked New Zealand to drop all charges against Second Warrant officer Muhammad Rizalman Ismail.
"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, announced yesterday that it had decided to extradite Rizalman.
Putrajaya’s decision to extradite Rizalman was conveyed by Foreign Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Anifah Aman to his counterpart Murray McCully.
“The Malaysian government is of the view that this decision will provide an opportunity for Rizalman to cooperate fully and assist the New Zealand authorities in the ongoing investigations on the allegations made against him.
“In this regard, the legal principle that one is considered innocent until proven guilty should apply to Rizalman. The government of Malaysia will provide legal assistance to Rizalman if necessary,” Wisma Putra had said in a statement issued yesterday.
Rizalman was arrested on May 9 for attempted burglary and sexual assault on a woman.
He had followed the 21-year-old to her Brooklyn home on May 9 when the alleged assault occurred.
Rizalman was initially detained by New Zealand authorities. However, he returned to Malaysia after invoking diplomatic immunity after his arrest.
Anifah had earlier said investigations into Rizalman would be done in Malaysia and the Ministry of Defence had already set up a board of inquiry to probe into the matter. – July 3, 2014.
