Investigative journalist Syed Fawad Ali Shah who spent a decade in exile in Malaysia was deported back to his country of Pakistan last August.

Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail confirmed that Syed Fawad, 41, was a refugee in Malaysia prior to his deportation at the request of the Pakistani government.

"Syed Fawad is a Pakistani national who has been living in Malaysia for a long time. His presence here caught the attention of the Pakistani government and they requested his repatriation.

"This request was done through the previous government (under former prime minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob), not the current one," Saifuddin Nasution told reporters today when met after his official visit to the Prisons Department's headquarters in Kajang.

"I can confirm that based on official records, the action taken (to deport) was done according to the Pakistani government's request for Syed Fawad.

"We located him and deported him. That's the procedure," he said, adding that Syed Fawad had left Malaysia for Islamabad in the third week of August last year.

Previously, a Pakistani woman, who only wishes to be known as Syeda, had appealed to Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim for help in locating Syed Fawad, her husband, at the time believed to be missing in Malaysia.

A teacher now based in Pakistan, Syeda married Syed Fawad during an online ceremony in 2021 before they reunited in Langkawi in February last year.

'Double identity'

Meanwhile, Saifuddin Nasution said there were two versions of the story surrounding Syed Fawad's identity.

"Our media here know him as a journalist. But the official version from Pakistan is that he was a former police personnel with several disciplinary records.

"I'm citing official information sent by the Pakistani government to us. But although he was a former police personnel, he has good writing skills. So many of his writings were critical of the government.

"That means he was only described as a journalist. However, official records showed he was a former police personnel," he said

‘Please help find my husband’ – wife of missing Pakistani journo pleads with PM

‘Please help find my husband’ – wife of missing Pakistani journo pleads with PM