New Zealand has hinted it may initiate disciplinary procedures after "ambiguity" on part of its Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) resulted in a Malaysian diplomat accused of attempted rape being sent home instead of facing charges in a New Zealand court.
This comes as the ministry today apologised over its handling of the case, which left both nations red-faced yesterday after contradictory information was issued by the two countries.
According to online news portalstuff.co.nz today, Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully (left) claimed he was not aware till last week that Malaysia had denied request for Muhammad Rizalman Ismail to waive his immunity and that the latter had since left the country.
McCully said investigations were under way as to who in the ministry were aware of this matter, as it became clear both he and New Zealand Prime Minister John Key had not been aware of ongoing informal discussions between Malaysian and MFAT officials.
"I believe this episode falls short of the standards that we should see in these sort of communications and I've taken some formal steps to see that addressed," he is reported as saying today.
In a press conference yesterday, Malaysian Foreign Minister Anifah Aman said the New Zealand authorities had offered the "alternative" of allowing Rizalman to return to Malaysia to face military court.
This was later contradicted by the New Zealand government, which soon after released documents showing that the Malaysian government had refused its request for Rizalman’s diplomatic immunity to be waived so he may face charges of burglary and assault with the intent to rape, and instead requested the charges be dropped.
However, McCully later admitted that informal discussions between MFAT and Malaysia were handled in a manner that would have been "ambiguous to the Malaysian government".
Tried under New Zealand system
Meanwhile, according to stuff.co.nz, the apology came from MFAT CEO John Allen, who is quoted saying: "It is the long standing policy of the New Zealand government to formally request the waiver of diplomatic immunity in such cases."
"Unfortunately, the way the Ministry dealt with this issue left some ambiguity around our position - which was that the accused should face justice in New Zealand."
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Key expressed his dissatisfaction over the latest turn of events, stating that the government’s position is for the accused to be tried in New Zealand.
"I'm surprised that an official working in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs [and Trade] would have that sort of ambiguity.
"This is a very serious situation. There's a New Zealand victim. We would want that person to be tried under the New Zealand system and that's certainly the impression that we, or certainly the minister, had," Key said
This comes as the ministry today apologised over its handling of the case, which left both nations red-faced yesterday after contradictory information was issued by the two countries.
According to online news portalstuff.co.nz today, Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully (left) claimed he was not aware till last week that Malaysia had denied request for Muhammad Rizalman Ismail to waive his immunity and that the latter had since left the country.McCully said investigations were under way as to who in the ministry were aware of this matter, as it became clear both he and New Zealand Prime Minister John Key had not been aware of ongoing informal discussions between Malaysian and MFAT officials.
"I believe this episode falls short of the standards that we should see in these sort of communications and I've taken some formal steps to see that addressed," he is reported as saying today.
In a press conference yesterday, Malaysian Foreign Minister Anifah Aman said the New Zealand authorities had offered the "alternative" of allowing Rizalman to return to Malaysia to face military court.
This was later contradicted by the New Zealand government, which soon after released documents showing that the Malaysian government had refused its request for Rizalman’s diplomatic immunity to be waived so he may face charges of burglary and assault with the intent to rape, and instead requested the charges be dropped.
However, McCully later admitted that informal discussions between MFAT and Malaysia were handled in a manner that would have been "ambiguous to the Malaysian government".
Tried under New Zealand system
Meanwhile, according to stuff.co.nz, the apology came from MFAT CEO John Allen, who is quoted saying: "It is the long standing policy of the New Zealand government to formally request the waiver of diplomatic immunity in such cases.""Unfortunately, the way the Ministry dealt with this issue left some ambiguity around our position - which was that the accused should face justice in New Zealand."
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Key expressed his dissatisfaction over the latest turn of events, stating that the government’s position is for the accused to be tried in New Zealand.
"I'm surprised that an official working in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs [and Trade] would have that sort of ambiguity.
"This is a very serious situation. There's a New Zealand victim. We would want that person to be tried under the New Zealand system and that's certainly the impression that we, or certainly the minister, had," Key said
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