Hours after Malaysian Foreign Minister Anifah Aman played down accusations the country was out to protect a Malaysian diplomat accused of sexual assault, the New Zealand government has turned the tables on him.
New Zealand released documents rebutting Anifah's claim that Wellington had offered to allow Muhmmad Rizalman Ismail to return home despite the alleged offence.
The documents also show that the Malaysian side asked for the charges of burglary and assault with the intent to rape against Rizalman to be dropped.
One of the two documents released is the Malaysian High Commission's letter to New Zealand's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT).
"The High Commission of Malaysia would like to also seek the cooperation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade of New Zealand and the New Zealand police to kindly consider sealing all documentation pertaining to the above mentioned matter and withdrawing all charges against Muhammad Rizalman Ismail,” reads the May 21 letter, sighted byMalaysiakini.
The letter was in response to another letter from MFAT, dated May 10 to the Malaysian High Commission requesting that Rizalman's diplomatic immunity be waived for him to face legal action in New Zealand.
"The High Commission of Malaysia has the honour to inform that the government of Malaysia will not waive the personal immunity granted to Muhammad Rizalman Ismail and has decided that he should be repatriated to Malaysia as soon as possible.
"Should the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade of New Zealand accept this arrangement, the High Commission proposes to send him and his family back home on Thursday, May 22, 2014, at 1.15pm by MH130," says the letter from the Malaysian mission.
At a press conference at Wisma Putra (right) in Putrajaya earlier today, Anifah claimed Malaysia had met with New Zealand officials on May 12 and offered to waive Rizalman's immunity but their counterparts had offered an "alternative" to allow him to return home.
Anifah also said Rizalman who is a warrant officer, will face the Military Court in Malaysia.
The documents were released in Wellington today, upon a request by Fairfax Media, under New Zealand’s freedom of information law.
‘NZ says it’s a misunderstanding’
Another document released by Wellington is the May 10 letter by MFAT to the Malaysian High Commission. No other document pertaining to the events between May 10 and May 21 were released.
However, New Zealand Foreign Minister Murray McCully this evening sought to defuse the tension, describing this as a “misunderstanding”.
McCully clarified that the formal letter may have clearly stated New Zealand’s intention of wanting Rizalman’s immunity lifted but matters were less clear in informal discussions.
“MFAT has this evening provided me with the correspondence between New Zealand and Malaysian officials on this matter.
“While the formal request is absolutely unambiguous in seeking the lifting of immunity, it is now clear to me that officials engaged in informal communications over what is a complex case, in a manner that would have been ambiguous to the Malaysian government,” he was quoted as saying by stuff.co.nz.
His remarks came shortly after speaking to Anifah this evening to clarify the “misunderstanding”.
McCully added he believed Malaysia acted in good faith and its refusal to lift the immunity was out of a desire to allow Malaysia’s defence chief to deal with Rizalman, but this would still be an outcome acceptable to New Zealand.
NZ police want offences prosecuted
MFAT's May 10 letter reads: "The New Zealand Police believes that it is in the public interest to prosecute these offences due to the serious nature of the offending by Muhammad Rizalman bin Ismail and has accordingly requested the Ministry to pursue appropriate avenues to enable a prosecution against Mr Rizalman to proceed.
"In order for the New Zealand Police to proceed with the prosecution of Mr Rizalman, the Ministry therefore wishes to seek from the Malaysian authorities a waiver of the personal immunity granted to Mr Ismail under Article 31 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and of the personal inviolability granted under Article 29."
Rizalman, who is a defence staff assistant, was arrested by New Zealand police on May 9, after he followed a 21-year-old woman home and allegedly assaulted her, purportedly with the intention to commit rape.
He was charged on May 10 for burglary and assault with intent to commit rape, both of which carry a maximum jail sentence of 10 years.
The high-profile case was only made public in New Zealand last Saturday.
The New Zealand press was only allowed to name Rizalman today, after a High Court judge in the country's judge lifted a suppression order on his details, which were obtained a day after the case went public.
Despite several attempts, including sending text messages, Anifah and his office were not available for comment on the documents released by New Zealand as of time of writing.
Letters released by Wellington
May 10 - Letter from High Commission of Malaysia
May 21 - Letter from NZ Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade
New Zealand released documents rebutting Anifah's claim that Wellington had offered to allow Muhmmad Rizalman Ismail to return home despite the alleged offence.
The documents also show that the Malaysian side asked for the charges of burglary and assault with the intent to rape against Rizalman to be dropped.
One of the two documents released is the Malaysian High Commission's letter to New Zealand's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT)."The High Commission of Malaysia would like to also seek the cooperation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade of New Zealand and the New Zealand police to kindly consider sealing all documentation pertaining to the above mentioned matter and withdrawing all charges against Muhammad Rizalman Ismail,” reads the May 21 letter, sighted byMalaysiakini.
The letter was in response to another letter from MFAT, dated May 10 to the Malaysian High Commission requesting that Rizalman's diplomatic immunity be waived for him to face legal action in New Zealand.
"The High Commission of Malaysia has the honour to inform that the government of Malaysia will not waive the personal immunity granted to Muhammad Rizalman Ismail and has decided that he should be repatriated to Malaysia as soon as possible.
"Should the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade of New Zealand accept this arrangement, the High Commission proposes to send him and his family back home on Thursday, May 22, 2014, at 1.15pm by MH130," says the letter from the Malaysian mission.
At a press conference at Wisma Putra (right) in Putrajaya earlier today, Anifah claimed Malaysia had met with New Zealand officials on May 12 and offered to waive Rizalman's immunity but their counterparts had offered an "alternative" to allow him to return home.Anifah also said Rizalman who is a warrant officer, will face the Military Court in Malaysia.
The documents were released in Wellington today, upon a request by Fairfax Media, under New Zealand’s freedom of information law.
‘NZ says it’s a misunderstanding’
Another document released by Wellington is the May 10 letter by MFAT to the Malaysian High Commission. No other document pertaining to the events between May 10 and May 21 were released.
However, New Zealand Foreign Minister Murray McCully this evening sought to defuse the tension, describing this as a “misunderstanding”.
McCully clarified that the formal letter may have clearly stated New Zealand’s intention of wanting Rizalman’s immunity lifted but matters were less clear in informal discussions.
“MFAT has this evening provided me with the correspondence between New Zealand and Malaysian officials on this matter.
“While the formal request is absolutely unambiguous in seeking the lifting of immunity, it is now clear to me that officials engaged in informal communications over what is a complex case, in a manner that would have been ambiguous to the Malaysian government,” he was quoted as saying by stuff.co.nz.
His remarks came shortly after speaking to Anifah this evening to clarify the “misunderstanding”.
McCully added he believed Malaysia acted in good faith and its refusal to lift the immunity was out of a desire to allow Malaysia’s defence chief to deal with Rizalman, but this would still be an outcome acceptable to New Zealand.
NZ police want offences prosecuted
MFAT's May 10 letter reads: "The New Zealand Police believes that it is in the public interest to prosecute these offences due to the serious nature of the offending by Muhammad Rizalman bin Ismail and has accordingly requested the Ministry to pursue appropriate avenues to enable a prosecution against Mr Rizalman to proceed.
"In order for the New Zealand Police to proceed with the prosecution of Mr Rizalman, the Ministry therefore wishes to seek from the Malaysian authorities a waiver of the personal immunity granted to Mr Ismail under Article 31 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and of the personal inviolability granted under Article 29."Rizalman, who is a defence staff assistant, was arrested by New Zealand police on May 9, after he followed a 21-year-old woman home and allegedly assaulted her, purportedly with the intention to commit rape.
He was charged on May 10 for burglary and assault with intent to commit rape, both of which carry a maximum jail sentence of 10 years.
The high-profile case was only made public in New Zealand last Saturday.
The New Zealand press was only allowed to name Rizalman today, after a High Court judge in the country's judge lifted a suppression order on his details, which were obtained a day after the case went public.
Despite several attempts, including sending text messages, Anifah and his office were not available for comment on the documents released by New Zealand as of time of writing.
Letters released by Wellington
May 10 - Letter from High Commission of Malaysia
May 21 - Letter from NZ Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade
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