PUTRAJAYA: Second Warrant Officer Muhammad Rizalman Ismail has appointed his counsel as the former defence staff assistant at the Malaysian High Commission in New Zealand is set to be produced in a Wellington court today over an accusation of burglary and assault in the New Zealand capital.
Muhammad Rizalman, 38, was extradited to New Zealand yesterday following an official extradition request made on Oct 3.
A Wisma Putra official, when contacted yesterday, confirmed that Muhammad Rizalman left for New Zealand by a Malaysia Airlines flight from the KL International Airport (KLIA) at 8.55am yesterday.
“He has his lawyer; he appointed himself … (the lawyer) not appointed by the government,” the official said.
The official said the MAS flight taken by Muhammad Rizalman was to Auckland, from where he would take a domestic flight to Wellington.
Media representatives who were at KLIA as early as 6am to talk to Muhammad Rizalman before his departure were disappointed.
The Wisma Putra official said they had anticipated journalists at the KLIA.
It is learnt that Muhammad Rizalman avoided the media and public attention as he was brought to the aircraft via ‘a special entrance’.
The official said Muhammad Rizalman was accompanied by two Malaysian Defence Ministry personnel and two New Zealand police officers on the flight.
Muhammad Rizalman was detained by New Zealand police on May 9 and was brought to court the following day to face charges of house break-in and sexual assault with intention to rape a 21-year-old woman.
He and his family were flown back to Malaysia on May 22, and the Defence Ministry immediately launched an investigation into the case.
He reportedly underwent a psychiatric evaluation at the Tuanku Mizan Military Hospital upon his return and was discharged at the end of July.
Meanwhile, the Foreign Ministry, in a statement, said Malaysia was confident that Rizalman would be accorded a fair trial by the New Zealand court.
It said Muhammad Rizalman’s return to New Zealand was testimony of the close cooperation between the various government agencies of both Malaysia and New Zealand and in keeping with the rule of law of the two countries.
Wisma Putra had on Oct 9 confirmed that it had received an official request to extradite Muhammad Rizalman. — Bernama