Two more Bersih leaders stopped at airports

This time around steering committee members K Arumugam and Toh Kin Woon were delayed at the LCCT and KLIA airports respectively.

PETALING JAYA: Two more Bersih leaders were stopped at airports this morning while attempting to board international flights.

K Arumugam and Toh Kin Woon, both Bersih 2.0 steering committee members, said they were delayed for about 10 minutes at the immigration check point.

“This morning I was stopped at the LCCT terminal for about 10 minutes at the immigration counter,” read an SMS from Arumugam to the Bersih secretariat.

“When I tried the auto-gate it did not open, and an officer came to my help and took my passport for verification. She said she needed to consult a senior officer.

“After about 10 minutes she came back and said I am cleared. But refused to give any details except that I am disallowed to use the autogate,” he wrote.

Arumugam was on his way to Chennai for a meeting.

Claiming harassment, he said that he was unsure if it was related to the ongoing investigation of Suaram or his role in Bersih 2.0.

Meanwhile, Toh Kin Woon said he was subjected to unusually long and unnecessary checks at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport.

“The lady at the counter did not clear me and needed to consult a more senior officer who took close to 10 minutes to check and finally clear me,” he told FMT.

Toh, who was heading to Bangkok for a holiday, said he was unsure if it was considered “harassment”, but said: “It is definitely strange and never happened before”.

Five other Bersih leaders had been similarly stopped in recent months. They included S Ambiga, Andrew Khoo, Maria Chin Abdullah, Yeo Yang Poh and Wong Chin Huat.

Yesterday, the Immigration Department told FMT that it was acting on the directive of the police when it stopped Bersih leaders at the airports.