Prominent Indonesian human rights lawyer Dr Adnan Buyung Nasution will send a letter of complaint to the Malaysian government for denying him entry to the country at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) on Tuesday night.

Adnan said he will send the letter to the Malaysian embassy in Jakarta to protest against the abusive treatment by immigration officials who forced him to take the last shuttle flight to Singapore at 12 midnight.

In a telephone interview with malaysiakini today, Adnan said he will file a complaint with the International Commissions of Jurists (ICJ), of which he is a member, that the Malaysian authorities hindered his attempts to uphold democracy and human rights in Malaysia.

Adnan had arrived with colleagues Paskah Irianto and Dr Bunga Kejora Trihusodo at the KLIA at 11pm from Indonesia.

However, Adnan and Paskah were denied entry and put on a shuttle flight back to Singapore at about midnight. Bunga, a fellow lawyer in Adnan's legal firm in Jakarta, was not denied entry.

Adnan, 68, was to submit a peaceful petition signed by 22 prominent leaders from political parties, non-governmental organisations, Islamic organisations and media, urging the government to allow Anwar to seek medical treatment of his choice during his two-day visit here.

Peaceful petition

Among those who signed the petition were Indonesian parliament speaker Prof Dr Amien Rais, chairperson of Islamic Congregation Party Prof Dr Deliar Noer, head of Golkar party Fahmi Idris, Christian intellectual Dr T H Sumartana and Kompas senior editor Jakob Oetama.

Asked if he had informed those who had signed the petition over what had happened, Adnan said 'yes', adding that he will also write officially to them to apologise for his failure to deliver the petition to the Malaysian government.

"They were upset and angry over the incident. I received many calls from others including media representative who called for interviews and they all expressed their sympathy and anger. Even former governor Ali Sadique called to say that he is very angry over the incident," he said.

Asked if any of the 22 leaders had planned anything to register their protest, Adnan said he did not know but strongly felt that the Tuesday incident would definitely affect the diplomatic ties between Malaysia and Indonesia.

"This only proves that the Malaysian government under the leadership of Dr Mahathir imposes abusive treatments not only to Malaysians but also to foreigners like what was done to me and to thousands of other workers from Indonesia.

No spirit of Asean

"This should not be happening. After all, we're all brothers of the same race. But it seemed that the spirit of Asean has disappeared. Indeed, some are illegal immigrants but surely we deserve a more humane treatment. I'm sure there is a better way," he said.

Adnan also said he is puzzled why he was subjected to such contemptuous treatment when he posed no security threat to anyone.

"If Dr Mahathir is confident of his power to control the situation in Malaysia, then he should not be worried with my presence. After all, I went there merely to share my experience of the reformasi movement in Indonesia with my friends there," he said.

He said the Tuesday incident was his first denial of entry after having travelled to Malaysia without any incident for the past 30 years.

Close friends

"I never had problems before. The last time I went there was in December last year with my family for our holidays. I have close friends there like Param Cumaraswamy, the UN special rapporteur, and former Lord President the late Tun Suffian Hashim," he said.

Adnan conceded that when he came to visit Anwar in court and to advise the legal team representing the sacked deputy premier in 1999 was not without some discomfort.

"I was told that Dr Mahathir reacted very strongly when informed that I met Anwar in court and the press statement I issued outside the court which was also published in the local papers. But I did not hear it myself but was told by reliable people," he said.

Adnan said he hoped the incident would not diminish the spirit and dedication of reformasi activists to fight for democracy and human rights in Malaysia.

"Of course success takes time. Mistakes are made and more problems will arise. Everyone must cooperate to solve them but what is most important is to open the door of reformation which at the moment is shut in Malaysia.

" I started the refomasi movement in1993 after returning from exile in Netherlands. I used it as a locomotive to break the wall of tyranny during the Suharto regime in 1998. I hope the reformasi movement in Malaysia will eventually succeed," he said.