Student group slams Sabah govt for barring Fahmi Reza

Summary

• Mandiri condemns the Sabah government for barring Fahmi Reza from entering the state.

• Group coordinator Hamdin Nordin calls the incident an abuse of power by the Sabah government.

• He has two demands: for the Sabah government and federal government to provide a public explanation, and for the Immigration Dept to stop using Section 65(1)(a) of the Immigration Act against critics.

Independent youth group Mandiri condemned the Sabah government for barring activist Fahmi Reza from entering the state.

Mandiri coordinator Hamdin Nordin called the incident an abuse of power by the Sabah government.

“Fahmi has committed no crime. He is merely exercising his right to freedom of expression in speaking out against corruption and criticising abuse of power.

“This action not only violates democratic principles but also tarnishes the image of Sabah as part of Malaysia, which is supposed to uphold the people’s right to speak and move freely,” Hamdin said in a statement today.

Earlier today, Fahmi was denied entry into Sabah and was deported on arrival at the Kota Kinabalu International Airport.

The artist-activist claimed on social media that the order came from the Sabah Chief Minister’s Office.

Last December, he was arrested in Sabah for putting up caricatures that painted Sabah governor Musa Aman as a corrupt individual.

He was subsequently deported from the state in early January.

Two demands

In his statement, Hamdin communicated the following demands:

• For the Sabah and federal governments to provide a public explanation for the incident, and

• For the Immigration Department to cease wielding Section 65(1)(a) of the Immigration Act 1959/63 against any person who criticises the government.

“Section 65(1)(a) of the Immigration Act should not be used to shield politicians from criticism.

“The law must be applied fairly, not based on political interests,” he said.

The said legal provision provides East Malaysian state governments with the power to instruct the Immigration Department director to deny a person entry into Sabah and Sarawak.

The state governments may also allow a person entry into the East Malaysian states on certain conditions.

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