Cover image via AFPNZ judge says Rizalman had sexual motives when he entered the house of a 21-year-old woman
Image via Daily Mail
Previously:
Former Malaysian defence attache Muhammad Rizalman Ismail is currently facing a hearing for sexual assault in New Zealand.
Rizalman, who was attached with the Malaysian High Commission before being charged, admitted to a Wellington High Court that he went to a strip club but claimed he was only there "for the music".
According to NZ Herald, Prosecutor Grant Burston asked Rizalman if he had gone to a strip club called "Mermaids" in Wellington in June last year on two occasions when he "felt under pressure"
Previous incidents involving Rizalman and women
He was also asked about following a woman in Wellington on 8 May 2014. However, the former Malaysian defence attache told the Court that he only "needed somebody to talk about the problems".
The hearing is not to determine Rizalman's innocence as he had already pleaded guilty to indecently assaulting a Wellington woman.
However, he is disputing certain facts of the case and the hearing is meant to establish which version the High Court will accept.
In response to questions from Prosecutor Grant Burston who asked why he had followed his alleged victim Tania Billingsley to her home and was subsequently accused of assaulting her, the former defence attache told the Wellington High Court that "in Malaysian custom, if a woman smiles at a man, it is an invitation to follow"
According to the [NZ Herald](http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11555881), **Rizalman testified that he was "getting signals" from the way Billingsley smiled at him**.
"Not from her speech but from her mannerisms and the way she smiled and the way she behaved. In Malaysian custom, if a woman smiles at a man it is deemed that they are happy to know that person," he said.
Burston then asked Rizalman if a woman's smile was an invitation to follow them home. At this, he replied: "It is an invitation to follow. It wouldn't necessarily mean you go into their house."
The report then said Rizalman who followed Billingsley home told the High Court he waited outside her house for a long time as she had shut the doors and he was expecting her to invite him in
Who is Rizalman? According to answers given to questions asked about his background in the High Court, Rizalman is a "warrant officer 2" in the Malaysian military. He signed up in June 1994 and his Wellington appointment began in September 2013.
Malaysian military attache Mohammed Rizalman arriving at the High Court in Wellington.
Image via Mark Mitchell/NZHerald
