News Desk : The High Court of Malaysia has granted an interim order against the immigration department from deporting former Bangladesh High Commissioner M Khairuzzaman to Dhaka, reports Free Malaysia Today.

Judge Mohamed Zaini Mazlan granted the order during case management of Khairuzzaman’s habeas corpus application on Tuesday.

Khairuzzaman, 65, is wanted in Bangladesh for undisclosed reasons, but his wife, Rieta Rahman, had contended that his arrest was politically motivated by the Bangladesh government, according to the report.

He was picked up by immigration authorities from his residence in Ampang on Feb 10.

The former diplomat’s legal team contends that he was a political asylum seeker with a UNHCR card and had not committed any immigration violations, and hence his detention was unlawful.

In granting Khairuzzaman’s application for a stay, Zaini said: “I don’t want to hear that he has been deported against this court order that I have granted.”

Earlier, Khairuzzaman’s lawyer, Edmund Bon, had brought up the issue of immigration officers deporting Myanmar detainees last year, despite a court order barring the government from doing so.

“I hope the immigration (department) doesn’t take matters into their own hands,” he said.

Federal counsel for the immigration department Wong Siew Mun said he would get back to the Attorney-General’s Chambers on the interim stay.

The court set May 20 to hear Khairuzzaman’s habeas corpus bid.

In an immediate response, Khairuzzaman’s wife, Rieta Rahman, said she was thankful for the court’s decision, but hoped the whereabouts of her husband would be made known.

She also asked if a doctor could examine Khairuzzaman, given his medical conditions.

“I want to know where my husband is and, if possible, speak to him,” she told FMT.

Khairuzzaman was represented by lawyers Ngeow Chow Ying and Yew Ding Wei.

Khairuzzaman, a retired army major, was accused in the 1975 Jail Killing case. He was appointed as Bangladesh`s high commissioner to Malaysia in 2007 under the caretaker government.

On Nov 3, 1975, four of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s closest associates, known as the four national leaders, were killed at Dhaka Central Jail. They were Syed Nazrul Islam, Tajuddin Ahmad, M Mansur Ali and AHM Quamruzzaman.

Khairuzzaman was named as a suspect in the Jail Killing case, but was later dropped from it.

In 1975, after Bangabandhu’s assassination, Khairuzzaman joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

When the Awami League came to power in 1996, Khairuzzaman was serving as acting ambassador to the Philippines and was recalled. On Sept 24 of that year, he was arrested and his retirement was made compulsory.

In 2001, when the BNP-Jamaat alliance came to power, Khairuzzaman was freed on bail. On May 4, 2003, he was appointed as director general to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He also served as an ambassador from 2001-2006 under the BNP government.

A court dropped him from the Jail Killing case in 2004. He was made a high commissioner in 2007, under the caretaker government, and sent to Malaysia.

In 2009, when the Awami League came to power, they recalled him to Bangladesh to stand trial. But Khairuzzaman secured a UN refugee card and remained in Kuala Lumpur.

Source: bdnews24.com