The government will pursue every possible legal avenue to bring back former ambassador M Khairuzzaman from Malaysia, Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen said on Wednesday.
Earlier in the day, the Malaysian Immigration Department released Khairuzzaman, who is accused of involvement in the 1975 Jail Killings.
"We will pursue his extradition through the legal process," Foreign Minister Dr Momen told reporters when asked what the government would do to bring him back.
He added that he did not know whether the government had decided to engage lawyers to work towards bringing the former ambassador back to Bangladesh.
When asked if Dhaka would stay in touch with the United Nations, as Khairuzzaman was enjoying refugee status, the foreign minister said: "Now that we have come to know this, we will pursue every possible legal process."
Khairuzzaman, a retired army major, was arrested last week in Malaysia where he had been staying for the last decade.
According to the Malaysian authorities, he was arrested as per the Bangladesh government’s request.
Following the arrest, his wife Reita Rahman, who contested the 2018 elections for Rangpur-3, filed an application for habeas corpus at the Kuala Lumpur High Court.
The former envoy was released on Wednesday, his wife Reita Rahman told Free Malaysia Today, a Malaysia-based news portal.
“He told me his lawyers were there to receive him and were bringing him back to his house,” she told the news portal.
Meanwhile, Khairuzzaman’s lawyer Ngeow Chow Ying said that there were no conditions tied to his release.
In a phone interview with FMT, Khairuzzaman said: “I went through so much embarrassment after being detained following these false allegations by the Bangladeshi government.”
He added that there were enough official records to prove that he was innocent and not involved in any criminal activities.
Habeas corpus is a writ requiring a person to be brought before a judge or court, especially for the investigation of a restraint on the person's liberty. It is used as protection against illegal imprisonment.
On Tuesday, State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md Shahriar Alam on Tuesday said: “The Malaysian government will defend the matter in the court because they made the decision to arrest Khairuzzaman and send him back to Bangladesh.”
His remarks came the same day the Malaysian High Court granted an “interim order” against the Immigration Department on deporting him.
Khairuzzaman joined the foreign service in 1975 after the assassination of Bangabandhu and most of his family members.
He was accused in the November 3, 1975 murder of national leaders Syed Nazrul Islam, Tajuddin Ahmad, M Mansur Ali and AHM Qamruzzaman inside Dhaka Central Jail.
After the Awami League came to power in 1996, Khairuzzaman was recalled from his post as acting ambassador to the Philippines to stand trial. He was arrested the same year and his retirement was made compulsory.
Khairuzzaman was released on bail in 2001, when the BNP-Jamaat alliance came to power.
In 2003, he was reappointed to the foreign ministry as director general. The charges against him were dropped in 2004. Under the BNP government, he served as an ambassador from 2001 to 2006.
Three years after his name was dropped from the Jail Killing case, he was appointed high commissioner to Malaysia in 2007, under the military installed-caretaker administration.
After the Awami League assumed office in 2009, he was recalled from Malaysia to stand trial. Khairuzzaman, however, remained in the country after securing refugee status from the UNHCR.
