Media representatives who were at KLIA as early as 6am to talk to Rizalman before his departure were disappointed. The Wisma Putra official said they had anticipated journalists at KLIA.
It is learnt that Rizalman avoided the media and public attention as he was brought to the aircraft via 'a special entrance'.
The official said Rizalman was accompanied by two Defence Ministry personnel and two New Zealand police officers on the flight.
Rizalman was detained by New Zealand police on May 9 and was brought to court the following day to face charges of house break-in and sexual assault with intention to rape a 21-year-old woman.
He and his family were flown back to Malaysia on May 22, and the Defence Ministry immediately launched an investigation into the case.
He reportedly underwent psychiatric evaluation at the Tuanku Mizan Military Hospital upon his return and was discharged at the end of July.
The Foreign Ministry said in a statement that Malaysia was confident that Rizalman would be accorded a fair trial by the New Zealand court.
It said Rizalman's return to New Zealand was testimony of the close cooperation between the various government agencies of both Malaysia and New Zealand and in keeping with the rule of law of the two countries.
Wisma Putra had on Oct 9 confirmed that it had received an official request to extradite Muhammad Rizalman.
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