Bersih chief sues Taib over deportation from S'wak

Bersih 2.0 chief Ambiga Sreenevasan has filed a suit against Sarawak Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud to challenge the latter's order to deport her from Sarawak during the last state election.

The suit was filed at Kuala Lumpur High Court on Monday, naming Taib, the director-general of the Malaysian Immigration Department and other relevant authorities as respondents.

Ambiga, who is former Bar Council chairperson, told reporters today that a date has been fixed to hear the application for leave in July.

Ambiga chose to file the suit in the peninsula and named the director-general of immigration as respondent because the Immigration Act stipulates that the latter has overall responsibility over immigration affairs in whole of Malaysia.

"He can't just wash his hands off," she added.

"I request the court to quash the deportation order because it was an abuse of my constitutional rights and it constituted an abuse of power," she said.

Ambiga was the fourth activist to be barred during the course of the 10-day campaign after activists Steven Ng, Wong Chin Huat and Haris Ibrahim were similarly stopped at the Kuching Airport and sent on the next flight back to Kuala Lumpur.

The latest victim was Malaysian Election Observation Network coordinator Ong Boon Keong.

He was detained by Kuching Immigration officials during his visit to Bengoh on Tuesday and deported back to Kuala Lumpur on the same day.

Both Ambiga (second from left) and Ong (left) were present during a press conference this morning in Kuala Lumpur to address the deportation issue and the coming Bersih 2.0 mega-rally on July 9.