Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim's claim of cover-up in the New Zealand diplomat scandal is aimed at damaging the country's reputation, the government said.

 

"Anwar Ibrahim's allegation in an interview with the New Zealand media that there has been a cover-up is completely false.

 

"This is yet another attempt by the leader of the opposition to opportunistically damage Malaysia’s reputation for personal political gain," an unnamed government spokesperson said in a statement last night.

 

The spokesperson listed how the New Zealand government had "thanked" Malaysia for its cooperation in the case of the Malaysian diplomat accused of sexual assault in Wellington.

 

However, on Tuesday. the New Zealand government  revealed documents that showed the High Commission of Malaysia requesting that the charges be dropped .

The accused, warrant officer Muhmmad Rizalman Ismail, 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, 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.

Yesterday Anwar was called on Malaysia to send Rizalman back to New Zealand to face his charges.

After much outcry from New Zealanders, the Malaysian government yesterday announced it has decided to extradite Rizalman for trial in Wellington.

 

'Anwar always smearing image'

 

The spokesperson lamented that Anwar was often quick to put down the country's image in the international media, citing the MH370 incident, which remains a complete mystery till today.

 

"At every opportunity, Anwar has consistently tried to smear his own country’s reputation to 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,” the government statement said, repeating its claims made on May 22.

 

It pointed out the government published the MH370’s full cargo manifest on May 1, nearly two months after the plane mysteriously vanished without a trace on March 8.

 

The spokesperson lamented Anwar's claim, in an Australian Broadcasting Corporation interview aired on May 19, that the manifest had been deleted.

 

However, it is not clear when the interview was actually conducted, and Anwar had, as early as April 21, been calling on the government to release information about the missing plane.

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