‘NO EXTRADITION REQUEST FOR ZAKIR’
Zakir’s lawyer uploads letter issued by police on Facebook
THERE has been no extradition request from the Indian government for preacher Dr Zakir Naik.
The confirmation on the matter was gleaned from a letter issued by the police’s legal division.
The letter, signed by Assistant Commissioner Mohamad Fahmi Visuvanatah Abdullah, representing the legal division, was uploaded and shared by Zakir’s lawyer, Mohd Khairul Azam Abdul Aziz, on his Facebook account.
The letter, dated July 13 and received by Khairul yesterday, was in response to two others dated April 5 and April 16 seeking to check on Zakir’s status.
The status check showed that there was no extradition request from the Indian government against Zakir, said the July 13 letter.
Bukit Aman had requested Khairul to conduct more status checks at the Attorney-General’s Chambers on the matter.
As such, Khairul said the issue of sending back the preacher was not relevant to be discussed.
A police source confirmed that the letter was signed by Fahmi but declined to elaborate until the police’s Communication Unit issued a statement on the matter.
“What I can say is that the letter was signed by Fahmi.
“However, it went gone viral after it was shared on the Facebook account of Zakir’s lawyer.”
The extradition issue had received wide publicity after DAP Central Executive Committee member P. Ramasamy, who is Penang deputy chief minister 2, urged the government to send the missionary back to India.
Indian Foreign Ministry spokesman Shri Raveesh Kumar had, in an email reply to Malaysiakini, confirmed that the Indian government had made a formal request for the extradition of Zakir and the request was communicated to the Malaysian authorities in January.
Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad had said that Zakir, who holds Malaysian permanent resident status, could remain in the country, provided that he behaved, and Malaysia would not bow to pressure.