The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has confirmed that the officer accused of sexual assault in New Zealand is being sent back to Wellington today.

 

In a statement, the ministry said two New Zealand policemen and two officers from the Malaysian Armed Forces are to accompany second warrant officer Muhammad Rizalman Ismail on his extradition.

 

After extended diplomatic exchanges, the former defence staff assistant at the High Commission of Malaysia in Wellington is finally returning to face trial, following an official request for Rizalman's extradition made by the New Zealand government on Oct 3, 2014.

 

"Malaysia is confident that Rizalman ( left ) will be accorded a fair trial by the New Zealand court," the ministry statement said.

 

Separately, a Wisma Putra official told reporters that Rizalman is on board Malaysian Airlines Flight MH133, which departed at 8.55am today and is expected to arrive in Auckland just before midnight (Malaysia time approximately 7pm).

He will then be brought to Wellington and is expected to arrive tomorrow morning, local time.

There he will face trial for alleged burglary and assault with intent to rape 22-year-old Tania Billingsley during a May 9 incident. He was arrested on the following day.

After being charged ,however, Rizalman invoked diplomatic immunity and was flown back to Malaysia on May 22, after alleged miscommunication by New Zealand’s Foreign Affairs Ministry reportedly led Malaysia to believe that the  authorities had no objections to his departure.

Malaysia and New Zealand then began a protracted process of extraditing Rizalman, which included evaluation of his mental wellbeing.

In the meantime, Billingsley applied to the court to lift legal protections against identifying her as a sexual assault victim, in order for her to speak to the media against the diplomatic debacle.

Rizalman appoints lawyer to face court in NZ