PETALING JAYA: Police have detained a former Bangladeshi diplomat who has been living in Malaysia as a refugee in the past decade.
According to Malaysiakini, the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) has raised concern that he could be expelled from the country and face persecution back home.
“The police arrested Mohamed Khairuzzaman, former Bangladesh ambassador to Malaysia and a recognised United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) refugee, on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur.
“He’s at imminent risk of deportation to Bangladesh, where he’s likely to face persecution,“ FIDH’s director of Asia Desk reportedly tweeted yesterday.
According to media reports, Mohamed was allegedly accused in a case involving the killing of national leaders Syed Nazrul Islam, Tajuddin Ahmed, Mansur Ali and AHM Quamruzzaman in Dhaka Central Jail on Nov 3, 1975”.
The 70-year-old was later acquitted by the Bangladeshi court in 2004.
He was appointed as a diplomat to Myanmar in 2005 and two years later he was made the ambassador to Malaysia.
After being instructed by Awani League, which came to power in 2009, to return home in the same year, Mohamed continued to live in Malaysia as a refugee under the UNHCR mechanisms, according to the report.