AMBASSADOR FLEES ASSAULT ALLEGATIONS

NZ Police unable to bring charges as wealthy Middle East nation plays its diplomatic immunity card and flies him home. By Tom Hunt.

Kuwait has removed its ambassador from New Zealand as police sought to charge him with assaulting a woman.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) tried to get Kuwait to waive immunity for the diplomat but this was refused, meaning police could not charge the man following the alleged assault in central Wellington.

This led to MFAT asking the Kuwait government to withdraw the diplomat – understood to be ambassador Ahmed Bader Razouqi. More than five months after the alleged assault, the diplomat was quietly shuffled out of New Zealand and faced no charges.

Police this week confirmed they were called to a home in central Wellington early on a Wednesday morning in November 2015. A woman there had received minor injuries.

‘‘This involved an allegation of assault by a diplomat from the Embassy of the State of Kuwait,’’ police said. ‘‘The incident was investigated, and police liaised with MFAT during the course of their inquiries.

‘‘Police were unable to progress the matter further as a request to waive diplomatic immunity was declined.’’

The victim of the alleged assault was offered ‘‘the normal support which we give victims’’, police said.

Foreign Affairs Minister Gerry Brownlee said diplomatic immunity was a ‘‘long-established international framework’’ that also applied to New Zealand diplomats abroad, ‘‘often in countries with very different law and justice systems’’.

‘‘As far as I’m aware this incident has not affected the diplomatic relationship New Zealand has with Kuwait.’’

He would not comment on whether political pressure was brought to play to get the diplomat to face charges or whether New Zealand needed to be more forceful in getting governments to waive immunity.

Figures released by MFAT under the Official Information Act show that in five years, the ministry has asked five times for foreign governments to waive immunity. Only once was the waiver granted.

Labour foreign affairs spokesman David Parker said the New Zealand Government should publicise cases when other nations refused to waive immunity.

‘‘It’s a matter of public interest to New Zealand and should be made public.’’

At the Kuwait Embassy in downtown Wellington, staff would not allow a journalist to enter and – via intercom – said they considered the matter a ‘‘closed case’’ that they did not want to engage with.

Neither police nor MFAT would identify the diplomat but he is understood to be Razouqi, who had been in the post only since February 2015. His earlier postings included Rome, London, Washington DC, Nairobi and Caracas.

It was January 2016 when police asked MFAT to seek a waiver from immunity from the Kuwaiti government.

This would have allowed police to lay charges but the Kuwait government refused the waiver, a statement from MFAT said.

MFAT then asked Kuwait to withdraw the diplomat from New Zealand, which it did. It was early April 2016 – more than five months after the alleged assault – that he left New Zealand.

Governor-General Dame Patsy Reddy welcomed his replacement, Ahmad Salem Alwehaib, in October 2016.

Statistics NZ data shows exports to the oil-rich Gulf nation were worth $66.3 million in 2016, largely driven by meat, dairy, eggs, honey, and other ‘‘edible products of animal origin’’. In the same year, imports from Kuwait totalled a little more than $4m.

Kuwait’s strategic location and vast oil reserves make it one of the world’s richest countries per capita.

Victoria University associate law professor Alberto Costi said diplomatic immunity was not a free pass for diplomats to break local laws, as hosting governments could still get them kicked out of the country.

It allowed diplomats to do their job without undue pressure from local authorities, he said.

The Kuwait incident came after Malaysian military official Muhammad Rizalman bin Ismail was extradited to New Zealand after he defecated outside a Wellington woman’s home and indecently assaulted her in 2014.

He left New Zealand shortly after, but had to return to face trial.

In March this year, the United States refused to waive immunity for one of its diplomats who was wanted for questioning in relation to an assault in Lower Hutt.

Colin White, who reportedly worked with the GCSB spy agency, left New Zealand in March.