Activist cum artist Mohd Fahmi Reza Mohd Zarin, who is known for initiating the 'Occupy Dataran'
movement, was denied entry into Sarawak yesterday, adding another name
to the long list of activists and politicians banned by the state.
According to messages posted in his Twitter and Facebook accounts, Fahmi Reza (left)
flew from Kota Kinabalu and arrived at Kuching airport yesterday at
9.15am but later found his MyKad withheld at immigration check-point.
He said an immigration officer later informed him that the instruction to ban him from entering the state came from the chief minister’s office and issued under Section 64(i)(a) of the Immigration Act 1959/64, and that he has been on the blacklist since April 12, 2011.
According to Fahmi Reza further, the officer claimed she does not know the exact reason behind the ban and asked him to check with the state security department.
After being detained at the airport's immigration office for some three hours, Fahmi Reza was then deported back to Kuala Lumpur at about 12pm.
The
banning reached its peak during the 10-day Sarawak election campaign in
April 2011 when four activists including Bersih 2.0 co-chairperson Ambiga Sreenevasan, its steering committee member Wong Chin Huat, Malaysian Election Observation Network coordinator Ong Boon Keong (right) and two other activists, Steven Ng and Haris Ibrahim, were stopped at the Kuching airport and deported back.
Ambiga, who is also a lawyer, challenged the entry ban in court but her leave appeal for a judicial review was rejected by the Federal Court on Sept 12.
On Sept 14, PKR deputy president Azmin Ali’s aide Hilman Idham faced the same fate in Sabah when he arrived at Kota Kinabalu airport to attend Pakatan Rakyat’s Malaysia Day celebrations.
The order came from the Sabah chief minister’s office and Hilman was deported back on the same day.
According to messages posted in his Twitter and Facebook accounts, Fahmi Reza (left)
flew from Kota Kinabalu and arrived at Kuching airport yesterday at
9.15am but later found his MyKad withheld at immigration check-point.He said an immigration officer later informed him that the instruction to ban him from entering the state came from the chief minister’s office and issued under Section 64(i)(a) of the Immigration Act 1959/64, and that he has been on the blacklist since April 12, 2011.
According to Fahmi Reza further, the officer claimed she does not know the exact reason behind the ban and asked him to check with the state security department.
After being detained at the airport's immigration office for some three hours, Fahmi Reza was then deported back to Kuala Lumpur at about 12pm.
The
banning reached its peak during the 10-day Sarawak election campaign in
April 2011 when four activists including Bersih 2.0 co-chairperson Ambiga Sreenevasan, its steering committee member Wong Chin Huat, Malaysian Election Observation Network coordinator Ong Boon Keong (right) and two other activists, Steven Ng and Haris Ibrahim, were stopped at the Kuching airport and deported back.Ambiga, who is also a lawyer, challenged the entry ban in court but her leave appeal for a judicial review was rejected by the Federal Court on Sept 12.
On Sept 14, PKR deputy president Azmin Ali’s aide Hilman Idham faced the same fate in Sabah when he arrived at Kota Kinabalu airport to attend Pakatan Rakyat’s Malaysia Day celebrations.
The order came from the Sabah chief minister’s office and Hilman was deported back on the same day.
No comments:
Post a Comment