A member of ground crew works on a Malaysia Airlines Boeing 737-800 airplane on the runway at Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Sepang July 25, 2014.
IN PHOTO: A member of ground crew works on a Malaysia Airlines Boeing 737-800 airplane on the runway at Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Sepang July 25, 2014. REUTERS/Olivia Harris

A former Malaysian diplomat has entered a "not guilty" plea on charges of sexual assault in a New Zealand court. Muhammad Rizalman bin Ismail, who has been accused of assault with intent to rape and burglary, denied the charges in the Wellington District Court.

According to media reports, Rizalman left New Zealand five months ago under diplomatic immunity due to a misunderstanding on the part of New Zealand's foreign affairs ministry. The woman who filed the complaint, Tania Billingsley from Wellington, had given up her right to name suppression to openly criticise Foreign Minister Murray McCully and the way he handled her case.

Billingsley has previously expressed her frustration at McCully in July when she thought New Zealand officials had appeared to be more concerned about keeping the matter private and trying to avoid a diplomatic row. McCully had admitted later on that his staff did not handle the case as expected. When asked about the ministry's handling of the case, the foreign minister blamed an "overworked staff member" who did not open a relevant email until the issue had become public in early July.

Billingsley had revealed her identity to the public on national television as the assault victim. Legal experts had warned of endangering Rizalman's fair trial when she made her appearance. Calls for McCully to resign from his post because of the way the government is handling the case reached their peak when the Rizalman left New Zealand under diplomatic immunity, according to a TVNZ report.

Labour Party foreign affairs spokesperson David Shearer has alluded to McCully's resignation when he said that the minister should acknowledge his failure. Shearer and the Greens have called for an external and independent review of the way the ministry handled the Malaysian diplomat's case.

Rizalman has opted for trial by jury with the court date set on Feb 19. In an earlier appearance, the court granted him bail and imposed travel restrictions. He was extradited to New Zealand in October after the leaving the country when he was first charged in May for stalking and attempting to rape Billingsley in her Wellington home.