Misquoted, but case laws support cancelling passport

Immigration Department director general Alias Ahmad has denied a news report quoting him as citing Section 8 of the Immigration Act 1959/63 or the Passport Act to support the decision to cancel the passports of blacklisted Malaysians.

Speaking to Malaysiakini, Alias said he was misquoted by Malay-language dailyBerita Harian, and that the daily will make corrections soon.

"The report is untrue and absolutely inaccurate. I did not even mention the Acts when speaking to the reporter.

"I am not a law expert but I know the law that the Immigration deals with and it is clear that Section 8 of the Immigration Act only applies to non-citizens," he said when contacted.

However, he said, the Immigration will indeed take action by cancelling the passports of 6,564 Malaysians who have been blacklisted.

He said that this was upon advice from police and Wisma Putra, and is supported by case law which says the government has power to cancel passports.

[More to follow]