Diplomatic immunity has been repeatedly invoked for alleged crimes committed by foreign nationals.
Photo: 123RF

A handful of foreign diplomats have behaved badly while in New Zealand – and not all have been brought to justice.

Most recently, a former staff member at central Wellington restaurant Saigon on Willis told Stuff she was assaulted by visiting Vietnamese officials while on duty in March.

Police said there was “no doubt” she and another worker had been indecently assaulted, but because both men had left New Zealand they were unable to press charges.

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon told reporters he understood extradition would be unlikely in this situation.

But more recently police told RNZ they were speaking with other agencies and their Vietnamese counterparts “to understand the options available”.

In an update Wednesday, police said they were remaining in contact with both women involved to ensure their well-being and that investigations were ongoing.

The Chinese embassy.
Photo: RNZ / REECE BAKER

By the way, what is diplomatic immunity?

Under the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, diplomatic personnel and their families enjoy immunity from arrest or prosecution, and cannot be detained or subpoenaed as witnesses.

This measure can be lifted if the New Zealand government believes that a serious crime – an offense punishable by imprisonment of 12 months or more – has been committed and it is in the public interest to prosecute.

Wellington lawyer and electoral law expert Graeme Edgeler told RNZ Nights diplomatic immunity was intended to give countries peace of mind in sending representatives abroad.

It prevents them from being arrested and charged, with the aim of keeping them safe in countries where justice systems “are not particularly friendly”, due to the risk of unfair trials or recourse to the death penalty.

“If they didn’t have immunity, some countries probably wouldn’t send diplomats,” Edgeler said.

Diplomatic immunity has been raised in several landmark cases in recent years.

Australian diplomat’s partner in post-rugby brawl

In October 2024, police charged the partner of an Australian diplomat over an early morning altercation in central Wellington the previous month.

The 37-year-old was filmed hurling homophobic slurs at police officers before shouting that he had diplomatic immunity, during a brawl after a rugby match.

He was taken into custody and Australian authorities later arrested him. lifted immunityallowing him to be charged with assault.

Stuff reported the case was adjourned until January and name suppression extended, following his appearance in Wellington District Court on December 9.

Korean diplomat sexually assaults embassy staffer

In August, South Korean diplomat Hongkon Kim was found guilty of indecent assault against a New Zealand embassy staffer in a South Korean court.

New Zealand police received the complaint in July 2019 from a man who said he had been touched inappropriately by Kim on three different occasions dating back to 2017, when Kim was deputy ambassador.

In 2020, Kim was charged with three counts of indecent assault.

But he had already left the country and could not be extradited due to lack of cooperation from the Korean embassy.

Then-Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern spoke to the Korean leader about it, who according to the press room“infuriated the Koreans” and left New Zealand diplomats to repair the damage done to relations.

THE Herald reported that the victim filed a formal complaint with the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency in December 2022, after the New Zealand complaint was deadlocked.

And then, in August, Stuff reported that the district court in Incheon, South Korea, sentenced Kim to a two-year deferred prison sentence after he was charged with indecent assault.

The victim said the guilty verdict had been a long time coming after “a really difficult few years”.

But Stuff understands that deferring the prison sentence could mean Kim avoids going to prison, provided he demonstrates good behavior during a three-year probation period, and the victim plans to appeal to force him to be sentenced to prison.

The case also raised questions about the confidentiality precautions taken by the ACC, which was criticized in 2021 for forwarding information about the victim’s claim to an embassy representative.

Malaysian embassy employee stalks woman

In 2014, Malaysian defense attaché Muhammad Rizalman, 39, confronted Tania Billingsley, a Wellington woman, in her bedroom, naked from the waist down.

Reports say they had met earlier in the evening and he followed her home.

Billingsley was looking at something on her laptop when she looked up from her bed and saw the defendant standing in the doorway of her bedroom, wearing only a shirt.

She got up from her bed yelling at him to leave, and a struggle ensued during which she ended up pushing him out of the house, before locking the door, running to the bathroom and to call the police.

Police said at the time that he did not tell them he worked at the High Commission and was therefore covered by diplomatic immunity, either during his arrest or at any time during his detention. .

He was allowed to return to Malaysia, but later returned to New Zealand to face charges.

Judge David Collins found him guilty two years later, finding that Rizalman had a sexual motive in following Billingsley home, that he had terrified his victim and that he had shown a surprising lack of remorse.

He was sentenced to nine months of house arrestthat he served in New Zealand, before being deported to Mayalsia.

European diplomat leaves New Zealand with months of rent

Eva Tvarozkova, who represented the European Union in New Zealand, leased a property at Karaka Bays in Wellington for a fixed term of three years in 2015.

But when she moved out after just six months, owners Matthew Ryan and Rebecca Van Den Bos no longer had to pay anything.

In March 2018, the Tenancy Tribunal awarded the landlords costs of more than $14,000 for unpaid rent and property damage to a lift – but the case was heard less than three months later.

In the end, the court ruled that Tvarozkova​ did not have to pay anything at all, thanks to his diplomatic immunity.

Chilean diplomat causes fatal accident

Wellington woman Sacha MacFarlane, 20, died in head-on collision when Luis Felipe Lopez, who had been drinking, crossed the center line on OId Hutt Road in 1984.

Lopez was granted diplomatic immunity, returned to Chile and was never brought to justice.

But the Chilean government issued an apology 26 years later, at a memorial service for MacFarlane.

His father, Kester MacFarlane, told RNZ in 2014 the excuses seemed “pretty empty” and the law was “very archaic.”

“Over the years, I have come to the conclusion that diplomatic immunity was intended to provide reciprocal protection to diplomats… but the abuse of privilege has now become so widespread… ) that it is just for the convenience of diplomats to flout local laws.

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