KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 10 ― The Immigration Department has detained a former Bangladeshi envoy to Malaysia who has been residing here as a refugee for years, the country's news outlet The Daily Star reported.
Mohamed Khairuzzaman, a former army major accused of atrocities against member of the current ruling party Awami League, reportedly holds a United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) card and has been here for almost a decade.
“Khairuzzaman was arrested yesterday morning from his residence in Ampang area in Kuala Lumpur.
“We think he will be deported from Malaysia at the soonest,” an anonymous Bangladeshi expatriate here was quoted telling the daily.
The report said that Khairuzzaman's lawyer has also served a legal notice to the authorities, demanding the former's immediate release.
The lawyer who was also not named, alleged that Khairuzzaman was detained without any valid reason, and that a habeas corpus filing would be made in court, if he is not released within 24 hours.
The Bangladeshi High Commission here did not reply to the daily’s request for comments.
Malaysian media has also requested for verification and response from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Immigration Department here.
Bangladeshi media reported that Khairuzzaman was among the many names implicated in the 1975 Jail Killing case in Bangladesh at the height of a political war, which saw four prominent figures of Awami League killed.
Hewas later acquitted and appointed as a high commissioner to Malaysia in 2007, before ordered back to Dhaka after Awami League came into power in 2009.
Fearing his safety, Khairuzzaman reportedly sought refugee status and continued living here.
