KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 22 (Bernama) -- The High Court today struck out a habeas corpus application filed by Saudi Arabian columnist Hamza Kashgari Mohamad Najeeb to determine that his arrest and deportation from Malaysia to Saudi Arabia was unlawful.

Judge Datuk Rohana Yusuf made the decision in chambers after meeting Hamza Kashgari's lawyers N. Surendran and Fadiah Nadwa Fikri and senior federal counsel Datuk Kamaluddin Md Said and Amir Nasruddin, who represented the respondents.

In the habeas corpus application, Hamza Kashgari, 23, who is alleged to have insulted Islam and Prophet Muhammad, had named the Inspector-General of Police, the Immigration Director-General, the Home Minister and the Malaysian government as the respondents.

Surendran, when met by reporters, said the court made the ruling after allowing a preliminary objection raised by the respondents.

He said the court struck out the application on the grounds that the issue of habeas corpus has become academic as Hamza Kashgari is no longer in the country.