Cambodia's ex-police chief has called for senior Malaysian officials to be punished over the swift deportation which landed him in prison for murder, his lawyer said today.

Heng Pov, sentenced in absentia over the killing of a judge, was detained by immigration authorities after fleeing here and expelled before exhausting all legal options, prompting protests from rights activists.

"What Heng Pov wants is to see justice. The people who orchestrated his premature departure should face the music," lawyer N Sivananthan told AFP.

The Federal Court will decide on Feb 2 whether to allow the contempt application, against Immigration Department director-general Wahid Mohamad Don, enforcement director Ishak Mohamed and government lawyer Hanafiah Zakaria.

Heng Pov was convicted and sentenced in absentia by a Cambodian court on September 18 for conspiracy in connection with the killing of a judge in Phnom Penh.

He fled the country and arrived in Malaysia from Singapore, where he was detained on immigration offences.

Malaysia's high court ruled he be returned to Singapore, his last port of embarkation, from where he planned to travel to Finland, which had offered him refuge.

Court misled

However, the court of appeal found in favour of the government and within minutes, even as an appeal was being lodged, he was flying back to Cambodia, where he was jailed.

In a written application to the court Thursday, Sivananthan said the three officers had misled the Court of Appeal when they said they had not decided how and when Heng Pov would be deported.

"They were fully aware then that arrangements had been made with the Cambodian government to have a private plane waiting at Subang airport to remove him from Malaysia," he said.

"The contemnors acted contrary to law by handing him over to the Cambodian government's representative ... when counsel (Sivananthan) indicated that he was going to the Federal Court to get an application to stay the deportation."

Amnesty International and Malaysian rights group Suaram have condemned the swift expulsion.