`


THERE IS NO GOD EXCEPT ALLAH
read:
MALAYSIA Tanah Tumpah Darahku

LOVE MALAYSIA!!!


 


Monday, June 3, 2013

PM Najib must assure Malaysians abroad won’t lose passports over dissent, says Global Bersih

The group wants Najib and Zahid (right) to direct the head of Immigration to put out a full retraction of his previous remarks on the matter. — File picKUALA LUMPUR, June 3 ― Electoral reform group Global Bersih wants Datuk Seri Najib Razak to assure Malaysians abroad the authorities will not cancel their passport on account of their criticism of his Barisan Nasional (BN) government.
The election reform movement comprising Malaysians abroad linked today an email allegedly threatening action against organisers of a “Black 505” rally in the US to the recent reported remarks by Immigration director-General Datuk Alies Ahmad who had warned the authorities could cancel their passport if its expatriate community continued to protest the results of the May 5 polls.
“Global Bersih demands that Najib Razak take full responsibility to immediately ensure Malaysians will keep their passports despite ill-conceived and illegal threats by civil servants in the wake of criticisms against the 13th general election and its aftermath,” it said in a statement.
It claimed that an unknown person “in a position of authority in a Malaysian overseas mission in the US” had recently sent out an email threatening the privacy and personal property of Malaysians who organised a rally protesting the conduct and divisive results of the 13th general election.
The group said the contents of the email repeated Alias’ warning that his department would revoke the passports of Malaysians who had attended the “Black 505” rallies, so-named by the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) opposition in protest of the recently-concluded election where they were defeated in their bid to form the federal government.
Despite winning 51 per cent of the popular vote, the DAP-PKR-PAS pact drew only 89 seats in the 222-member Dewan Rakyat against the BN coalition’s 133 seats. The opposition parties have held a series of such rallies that have drawn tens of thousands of equally dissatisfied supporters nationwide.
Global Bersih further alleged that the email “further encouraged people who would lose their travel entitlements to sue the organisers”.
The group declined to furnish a copy of the e-mail that purportedly carried such threats when contacted by The Malaysian Insider, saying it had been sent to them “in strictest confidence by one of our most trusted representatives in the US” and the precaution was necessary “to prevent further threat or harm to anybody connected to the US rally and to keep this matter from escalating further.”
The group demanded PM Najib and Home Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi direct the Immigration director-general to issue a comprehensive public statement to all media to fully retract his earlier pronouncements.
It also wants Foreign Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Anifah Aman to direct all Malaysian diplomatic missions abroad to condemn and investigate calls on the Internet for similar action against the Malaysian diaspora and to give an assurance that they were able to travel freely.
It told Putrajaya that Malaysians abroad who had participated in the rallies calling for reform were doing so out of a love for their home country, as proved by their singing of the national anthem “Negaraku” at each gathering.
“Global Bersih believes that these Malaysians deserve the reassuring hand of benevolent governance, not the back-handed swipe of bureaucrats like Alias Ahmad,” it said.
Alias was reported to have said the Immigration Department was tracking Malaysians abroad including students who attempted topple the government and bring down the country’s image and warned that they faced stern action under Section 8 of the Immigration Act 1959/1963.
“Malaysians who break the law and shame the country can be blacklisted, their passport can be cancelled between three and five years,” he was quoted as telling Malay daily Berita Harian in its report dated May 27.
However, Alias has denied he had made such a remark on his Twitter account, @KP_Immigration, on the same day.
“Its totaly [sic] wrong reporting by BH reporter..sorry,” he said, in response to a tweet post citing several lawyers as saying the Immigration director-general had no powers to revoke any Malaysian’s passport.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.