Zakir Naik in Bukit Aman past midnight
Preacher Dr Zakir Naik was questioned for more than 10 hours by Bukit Aman police and remained there past midnight.
Zakir, who was accompanied by his lawyer Akhberdin Abdul Kader, had his statement recorded over comments he made during a ceramah earlier this month.
Akhberdin told Malaysiakini Zakir only left the police headquarters at around 1.30am on Tuesday.
The Indian national had entered the police headquarters at 3pm on Monday.
Preacher Dr Zakir Naik was questioned for more than 10 hours by Bukit Aman police and remained there past midnight.
Zakir, who was accompanied by his lawyer Akhberdin Abdul Kader, had his statement recorded over comments he made during a ceramah earlier this month.
Akhberdin told Malaysiakini that Zakir only left the police headquarters at around 1.30am on Tuesday.
The Indian national had entered the police headquarters at 3pm on Monday.
Zakir's aide had said that the preacher may make a statement to the press after the questioning.
However, journalists who waited for Zakir outside the police headquarters left by 1am on Tuesday.
Zakir was previously questioned for more than three hours last Friday but later asked for a postponement to Monday.
In a ceramah in Kota Bharu, Zakir had suggested that those wanting him to be deported because he is a "guest" should instead ask Chinese Malaysians, whom he described as "old guests", to go home first.
He also suggested that Hindu Malaysians were more supportive of Indian prime minister Narendra Modi than Malaysian prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
Zakir later claimed his statements were taken out of context.
Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad had previously defended Zakir from calls to deport him to India to face money laundering and hate speech charges, stating that he may not receive a fair trial under the Hindu nationalist government there.
However, following Zakir’s statement about Chinese and Hindu Malaysians, Mahathir said the preacher had ventured into racial politics, which breaches the terms of his permanent residency.
Zakir had relocated to Malaysia and said he will only return to India if he gets a written undertaking from the Indian government that he won't be arrested until his trials are completed.
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