Hisham orders probe on Sulu Sultan Akjan

The Home Minister says necessary action will be taken if Akjan if found to be a security risk.

KOTA KINABALU: Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein today ordered the police to probe the citizenship status of Mohamad Akjan Ali Muhamad, who declared himself ‘Sultan of Sulu’ on Feb 2.

“If he has broken the law and is against the law, then he has to face whatever action that is available to us under the law,” he told reporters after handing over appointment letters to the new Sabah Registration Department Director Ismail Ahmad and State Prisons Department Director Suria
Idris, both Sabahans, here.

Hishammuddin was asked to comment on the calls by leaders of Barisan Nasional component parties Parti Bersatu Sabah, United Pasok Momogun Kadazandusun Murut Organisation and Parti Bersatu Rakyat Sabah and the opposition for Akjan to be stripped of his citizenship and expelled from the state for proclaiming himself Sultan of Sulu.

They said that swearing allegiance to a foreign power was an “act of disloyalty and high treason, and that Akjan’s status and real identity, whether he is a bona fide Malaysian citizen or a Filipino who came to Sabah as a refugee, is of public interest.

Hishammuddin said the ministry had empowered Sabah police commissioner Hamza Taib to carry out a thorough investigation with the assistance of officials from Bukit Aman.

“We have to find out whether (his declaring himself Sultan of Sulu) is chargeable. If he (Datu Akjan) becomes a security risk we will use whatever law necessary.

“We are not in the business of politics when we talk about security,” Hishammuddin said, adding that the issue should not be politicised.