Radio Free Sarawak DJ: I'm safe but don't harm me

Radio Free Sarawak deejay Peter John Jaban has resurfaced to assure the public that he is safe but appealed for the authorities looking for him to not harm him.

He said he was willing to go to a police station with his lawyer, but wanted the police to promise they would not harm him. "I am willing to face them, but don't hurt me, don't harm (me)", he was quoted as saying by news portal Sarawak Report today.

Jaban clarified in the report that the three unidentified men he had followed after alighting from his lawyers' vehicle - which raised concerns that he had been kidnapped - were in fact his friends.

He added that he had acted on the spur of the moment as the trio had come to help him against any attempts to detain him.

The police had denied any involvement with Jaban's sudden 'disappearance' when he followed the three men.

In the report, Jaban explained that he feared being charged for sedition because of the negative attention Radio Free Sarawak had attracted from BN politicians and supporters.

‘I feared being charged'

He added that as a former employee in the Land and Survey Department he had broken his employment terms by exposing information concerning corruption and was worried he would be charged with this.

He also admitted that he had been travelling around Sarawak by avoiding border checkpoints, stating to the news portal: "I don't know whether I can be charged with not doing the right things within the Immigration Act".

Jaban said these reasons prompted him flee and he is now lying low.

"I am fearful of what they will do in custody, when in their hands", he was quoted as saying.

Jaban was informed when leaving Kota Kinabalu airport that he would be detained when he landed in Miri.

On arrival in Miri, he managed to leave with his lawyers despite a heavy police presence as the authorities had not received instructions on how to act.

However, Jaban commended the police in Sabah whom he said had treated him well.

"In Sabah the Special Branch Officer who interviewed me was very kind to me and let me go. The immigration officer was kind too. I would like to thank them for being very kind and polite.

"It was only that during the flight I was so fearful that they would get me in Miri," he told the news portal.

Jaban who had been in self-imposed exile UK had returned to Sarawak to meet friends and families in conjunction with the Gawai celebration but is wary of being arrested.

The report said that Jaban intends to remain in hiding and has yet to decide on the next move but will consult lawyers as the police are looking for him.

Free Radio Sarawak which operates out of the UK is aimed at disseminating population to the rural populace in Sarawak and is particularly critical of its state government and Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud.