Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim was barred from entering Japan today, purportedly due to something that happened last year.
 
In a posting on Facebook , he said immigration officials at the Narita Airport told him to either take "the first flight back home or face deportation".
 
"When I asked why I was not allowed to enter, they told that me that it was because of previous conviction in 1999.
 
"I told them this could not be a valid reason on account of the fact that I had already entered Tokyo without hindrance on three previous occasions in 2006, 2009 and 2012...
 
"As I persisted in asking for an explanation, they finally told me that they had to take this action 'because of a latest report' possible in 2013," he said.
 
He boarded a flight out of Narita at 10.45 am Tokyo time.
 
The PKR de facto leader, who had gone to Tokyo to present a paper for the Nippon Foundation, said that his office had checked with the Japanese Embassy on travel requirements last week and was not informed of any hindrances.
 
As such, Anwar urged Wisma Putra to explain this occurrence, especially on the matter of the "so-called latest report" that has led to his barring.
 
"It is indeed inconceivable for one of the world’s leading democracies to take this unprecedented action under such tenuous grounds and leaves me with the impression that hidden hands may be at work here," he said.