SHAH ALAM, Nov 3 — The Malaysian government has decided not to extradite prominent preacher Dr Zakir Naik to India and has made no commitment to hand him over to the country.
Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said the decision was based on Malaysia's rights under Article 6 of the Malaysia-India Extradition Treaty signed in 2010, as well as provisions of the Extradition Act 1992.
He said the government had also not received any new extradition request from India concerning Dr Zakir.
The previous formal request from the Indian government was received on January 19, 2018, while a diplomatic note seeking reconsideration was received on May 29, 2020.
"The Malaysian government has decided not to extradite Dr Zakir Naik to India.
"Therefore, no commitment has been made to extradite him," he said in a written reply published on Parliament's website.
Saifuddin was responding to a question from Datuk Dr Ahmad Marzuk Shaary (PN-Pengkalan Chepa), who sought clarification on the latest status of the Indian government's extradition request for Dr Zakir, including the date the most recent formal request was received.
Ahmad Marzuk also asked whether the documents and evidence submitted met the requirements of the Extradition Act 1992 and the Malaysia-India extradition treaty, as well as the government's position on handing the preacher over to India.
Dr Zakir left India in July 2016 before settling in Malaysia. The Indian government subsequently submitted a formal extradition request on January 19, 2018, seeking his return to the country.
In a written parliamentary reply in 2019, the government explained that the Extradition Act 1992 and Article 6(1)(a) of the Malaysia-India Extradition Treaty provided for certain circumstances under which an extradition request could be rejected, including where the individual concerned risked being denied a fair trial or facing persecution on specific grounds.
Last September, Dr Zakir's extradition was also discussed during a meeting between Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi in New Delhi.
Anwar confirmed that the matter had been discussed but stressed that Malaysia must take into account the principles of the rule of law.
