Albert sends CM legal notice to explain ban on entering Sabah

Businessperson Albert Tei has initiated legal action against Sabah Chief Minister Hajiji Noor, demanding the latter’s explanation for banning him from entering the state.

This followed the Sept 22 incident in which Tei was stopped by immigration authorities upon arrival at the Kota Kinabalu International Airport.

He had travelled to Sabah to attend a case mention at the Kota Kinabalu Sessions Court the next day.

According to Tei’s lawyer, Mahajoth Singh, the businessperson was told by an immigration officer identified as “Puan Mimie” that he has been barred from entering Sabah due to “restriction from the Chief Minister’s Office”.

“It is clear that the entry restrictions imposed, which prevented our client from attending the mention of the case at the Kota Kinabalu Sessions Court, without any court order - and even more so merely based on a directive from the Chief Minister’s Office - constitute an unlawful act, an abuse of power, and an action that violates our client’s fundamental rights in accordance with Articles 5 and 9 of the Federal Constitution.

“In this regard, we have been instructed by our client to obtain a written explanation regarding the above incident within seven days from the date of this letter,” read a legal notice sent by Mahajoth to Hajiji’s office.

The letter was dated yesterday (Oct 2).

It was reported last week that Tei was denied entry to Sabah when he went to the state to attend his court case. He is facing court proceedings related to the Sabah mining scandal.

The immigration authorities later allowed him to enter Sabah, purportedly for only two days, to attend court proceedings.

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