PKR Subang member of parliament R Sivarasa has been barred from entering Sarawak upon arrival at the Kuching Airport this morning.

NONE Sivarasa ( left ) told Malaysiakini that he landed at 10.10am on an AirAsia flight and was with Selangor executive councillor Xavier Jayakumar.

The duo are in Sarawak to attend the state party convention, that is being held today.

"I was stopped at the immigration counter and was told there was a problem," he said.

Sivarasa was subsequently detained at an immigration holding room in Kuching Airport and later served with a deportation order.

"They put me on the next available flight and deported me back to Kuala Lumpur," he said.

Sivarasa eventually took an 11.55am flight back to Kuala Lumpur.

Xavier, who was accompanied by his wife, Sheila Devaraj, and personal aide Abdul Razak Ismail, was, however, allowed entry.

This is the second time that Sivarasa has been barred from entering Sarawak.

In 2009, Sarawak immigration sent him back to Kuala Lumpur while two months earlier, Padang Serai parliamentarian N Gobalakrishnan was similarly deported .

'Chief Minister's orders'

When contacted upon his return to Kuala Lumpur, Sivarasa said that the Immigration Department officers had invoked Section 65(i)(a) of the Immigration Act in deporting him, apart from saying that it was the ‘chief minister's orders'.

According to the section, the immigration department director shall comply with instructions by the state authority not to issue any one with a pass for a specified period or specified terms and conditions.

"But it actually doesn't say anything at all," decried Sivarasa. "While I respect the 1963 agreement and that Sabah and Sarawak have the right to regulate immigration in their own states, this is a clear cut abuse of power," he said.

He also said that Section 67 of the Immigration Act guarantees his entry into the state, where it said that a citizen should be able to enter for the sole purpose of engaging in legitimate political activity.

"I was going to attend the PKR convention in Kuching based on an invitation.  It was a legitimate political activity.

"It's not like I was going there to incite a riot," he said.

Legal action may follow

Sivarasa is again mulling legal action against the government.

"I will refer this to my lawyers," he said.

The MP had previously attempted to bring the government to court after his first ejection from the state two years ago, but his application was disqualified after some technical arguments.

"They also did not tell me how long I would be banned from entering Sarawak. They did not tell me anything," he said.

Meanwhile, Bernama reported that Sarawak PKR chief Baru Bian, who is also a lawyer, said the party would bring the matter to court.

   

"When he (Sivarasa) was denied entry for the first time, they said he did not have any invitation letter to be here. This time, we ensured he had the invitation letter to our party convention. Yet, he was barred again," he told reporters in Kuching today.

But when asked if independent MP Gobalakrishnan would still suffer the same fate, now that he has left the party, Sivarasa said that he was not sure.

"But I think there should be no problems for him now," he said. 

Gobalakrishnan was also denied entry twice - the first time on Feb 24, 2009 and again on May 12 last year.