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MP laments ban on Bersih chief, nation turning into tin-pot dictatorship
Published:  May 17, 2016 8:49 AM
Updated: 1:05 AM

Why doesn't the government just stop all Malaysians from travelling overseas, since it does not have to give any reason under the Immigration Act for barring anybody from leaving the country.

This is the question raised by DAP's Petaling Jaya Utara MP Tony Pua, who said the government's crude attempts to restrict a person’s travel rights are an outrageous abuse of power.

Such action only serves to prove the allegations that Malaysia is transforming itself to be police state run by a tin-pot dictatorship, Pua said in a statement.

He was responding to Deputy Home Minister Nur Jazlan Mohamed, who said the government does not need to give reasons for barring Bersih chairperson Maria Chin Abdullah from leaving Malaysia.

Nur Jazlan was reportedly said that “it's a power given under the Immigration Act, we don't need to explain why... We are not compelled to give a reason.”

However, Pua who is a parliamentary Public Accounts Committee member, expressed disappointment in the decision of Nur Jazlan (photo) that there is absolutely no need for the government to be transparent and accountable in the exercise of its powers.

Even if it is true that the law gives the government such dictatorial rights, a government that prides itself on transparency and accountability will nevertheless attempt justify its actions, lamented Pua.

"The lack of such transparency and accountability only points to a government that is intent on abusing its powers to repress its critics and dissidents."

Pua noted that Maria Chin was on the way to South Korea to receive the prestigious Gwangju Prize Human Rights Award, an award previously bestowed upon Aung Sang Suu Kyi and Xanana Gusmao.

"At the same time, even if a law grants the authority the relevant discretion to exercise its powers, such discretions under any democratic regime governed by the rule of law must be exercised reasonably.

"Such discretions were never meant to be abused according to the authorities' whims and fancies."

Pua, who has been barred from leaving the country since July 24, 2015, said the government and the director of Immigration Department had similarly refused to provide him with any reason as to why he has been barred from leaving the country.

It was only when the decision was challenged in court, Pua said, the Immigration Department director provided an affidavit that disclosed Pua’s travel rights were restricted because he was under police investigations for "activities detrimental to parliamentary democracy", which carries a prison sentence of up to 20 years.

"Even so, I have only been called in for questioning by the police as a witness for their investigations and have never been informed by any party that I was ever a suspect," he added.

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