Hishammuddin: Nothing political about Xenophon detention

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 16 — Nick Xenophon’s detention at the budget airport in Sepang this morning was in accordance with the law, Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein said today, rubbishing reports the authorities saw the Australian senator as an enemy of the state and were politically motivated to keep him out of Malaysia ahead of Election 2013.

The home minister insisted there was nothing irregular about the immigration’s move to hold the vocal Australian lawmaker until he can be deported tonight, adding that Malaysians were likewise subjected to the same rules and regulations.

Independent Australian Senator Nick Xenophon and Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim share a moment as they walk at the Parliament House in Kuala Lumpur December 8, 2010. — Reuters file pic

“The detention had no political element. I believe the detention was according to the law,” Hishammuddin was reported as saying by Sinar Harian Online after an event near Putrajaya today.

“This is an immigration issue, and this is a regular thing that Malaysians also undergo and are barred from entering. Nothing special for him,” he was reported as adding, referring to Xenophon, who was barred from entering the country earlier this morning upon arrival at the budget airline terminal in neighbouring Sepang.

The 54-year-old, who is in custody pending his deportation tonight, had been reported as telling reporters here and in Australia by phone that he was “effectively a prisoner here” after being told he was “an enemy of the state” despite having scheduled meetings next week with de facto law minister Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz, election regulators and Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

“We are meant to be having a people-swap deal on asylum seekers but so far it looks like the only person being swapped is me,” he was quoted as saying by Australian newspaper, The Sunday Mail.

Hishammuddin stressed that the authorities acted based wholly on the law and urged speculators not to “twist” the circumstances.

Immigration Director-General Datuk Alias Ahmad confirmed with The Malaysian Insider that Xenophon’s detention was under Section 8(3) of the Immigration Act which provided for the authorities to bar him entry as a “prohibited immigrant”.

We are meant to be having a people-swap deal on asylum seekers but so far it looks like the only person being swapped is me. — Nick Xenophon

Alias said Xenophone had made statements that humiliated the country, such as calling the Malaysian government “authoritarian” in handling the Bersih 3.0 rally for free and fair elections last April.

“He tarnished the image of the country,” Alias told The Malaysian Insider today.

A non-government organisation seen to support the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN), the Young Journalists Club of Malaysia (KWMM), has applauded the government’s move to kick out Xenophon, whom it described as a “troublemaker”.

“KWMM congratulates the Malaysian Immigration Department for its staff’s efficiency to obstruct the entry of Senator Xenophon that may prove detrimental to Malaysia’s political stability and its people’s harmony.

“KWMM considers Senator Xenaphon to be a troublemaker who is attempting to interfere in the country’s internal affairs specifically that related to the process of the 13th General Elections that will be held shortly.

“KWMM is convinced Senator Xenaphon is not acting on his personal capacity but is being puppeteered and supported by the opposition especially Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and the Bersih leadership,” the group’s president Dzulkarnain Taib said in a statement.

Dzulkarnain accused Malaysia’s opposition bloc and the electoral reform lobby group of betraying the country and exploiting the Australian lawmaker’s close diplomatic ties for their own political ends in the run-up to polls.

Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr today called Xenophon’s detention “a surprising and disappointing act”. — Reuters pic

Bersih chairman Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan, the Malaysian Bar and several other political observers have castigated Putrajaya for detaining and expelling Xenophon, and questioned the government’s motive for doing so ahead of elections.

Xenophon first entered the public eye last year over his withering remarks against Putrajaya when he visited as a part of an international polls observer group.

He had observed the Bersih 3.0 rally last April and noted that the police had fired tear gas and chemical-laced water in what had been a largely peaceful protest.

Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s chief of staff Ibrahim Yaacob said today that other Australian MPs, including Mal Washer, John Williams and Steve Georganas, who were due to arrive here tomorrow, have cancelled their plans.

Ibrahim said earlier that Xenophon had flown in this morning to meet Anwar, as well as Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Aziz and Election Commission (EC) officials next week to discuss the country’s electoral system.

Australia’s Foreign Ministry has expressed its disappointment with Xenophon’s detention at the airport and has demanded his release.