Stateless e-sports athlete granted review to bid for citizenship
The Kuala Lumpur High Court has granted stateless e-sports athlete Muhammad Aiman Hafizi Ahmad leave to continue his bid to be declared a Malaysian citizen.
According to The Malay Mail, Judge Mariana Yahya ruled today that he could file for a judicial review to challenge the government’s refusal to accord him citizenship...
The Kuala Lumpur High Court has granted stateless e-sports athlete Muhammad Aiman Hafizi Ahmad leave to continue his bid to be declared a Malaysian citizen.
According to The Malay Mail, Judge Mariana Yahya ruled today that he could file for a judicial review to challenge the government’s refusal to accord him citizenship.
“This court is of the view that the applicant’s application firstly is not frivolous, vexatious. In fact, there is an arguable case here.
“But the question is whether Article 15A (of the Federal Constitution) can be reviewed or not, and it comes under alternative reliefs. So this court takes the stand that the court will deal with all of the reliefs at the substantive case.
“So leave is granted to the applicant,” she was quoted as saying.
Article 15A stipulates that the government has the discretion to register children - defined as any person under the age of 21 - as a citizen.
Attorney-General Chambers federal counsel Mohammad Sallehuddin had argued that Aiman’s application would challenge the government’s special powers under the article to grant citizenship.
With the latest decision, Aiman’s lawyer New Sin Yew (above) said the judicial review will allow the court to scrutinise whether his client is a citizen under the Constitution and whether the home minister should have registered him as one.
Aiman, who will turn 20 on Aug 17, was born in Malaysia and had been legally adopted by Malaysians. His parents, who have cared for him since he was two years old, have filed two citizenship applications for him.
Last year, he was part of a Player Unknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG) Mobile team that won second place in a local e-sports tournament.
They qualified to represent Malaysia at the Southeast Asia level meet in China but Aiman was unable to join his team as his stateless status meant he did not have a passport.
Case management for his judicial review has been fixed for Aug 19.
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