Play store
Malaysia has decided not to extradite Islamic preacher Dr Zakir Naik to India and has made no commitment to hand him over, Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail told parliament on Tuesday.
In a written parliamentary reply, Saifuddin said the decision was based on Malaysia’s rights under Article 6 of the 2010 Extradition Treaty with India and provisions of the Extradition Act 1992.
He said Malaysia had not received any fresh extradition request from India concerning Naik.
India previously submitted a formal extradition request on January 19, 2018. It later sent a diplomatic note on May 29, 2020, asking Malaysia to reconsider its decision.
The minister was responding to a question from Datuk Dr Ahmad Marzuk Shaary, a member of parliament representing Pengkalan Chepa, who sought an update on the status of India’s extradition request and whether the submitted documents and evidence met the requirements of Malaysian law and the bilateral treaty.
The written reply did not directly clarify whether the evidence submitted by India fulfilled those legal requirements.
Naik has been living in Malaysia since 2016, when he left India amid investigations into allegations of money laundering and hate speech.
He was subsequently granted permanent residency in Malaysia.
The issue of his extradition was also discussed during a meeting between Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit in September.
Malaysia has maintained that the matter must be handled in accordance with its laws and established legal procedures.
