French researcher Sophie Lemière has accused Immigration Department officers at KLIA2 of bullying and intimidation upon her arrival in Malaysia on Monday.
Lemière, who authored the 2017 book Illusions of Democracy: Malaysian Politics and People, was in the country for a conference at the invitation of Deputy Defence Minister Liew Chin Tong.
She was allegedly stopped at the KLIA2 Immigration counter at 9pm yesterday, with an officer saying that her name had been flagged by the police.
“When I arrived at the Immigration counter, the officer looked at my passport and then checked my record. He said there was a problem.
“I explained to him that I was coming for a conference, and mentioned that I knew my name had been flagged by the police due to my research during the rule of the previous government,” she said in her police report on the incident, which was sighted by Malaysiakini.
Lemière lodged the report at the Petaling Jaya police headquarters at 10.20pm today. She was accompanied by lawyers N Surendran and Latheefa Koya.
The Malaysia specialist at the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation at Harvard University is also known for her research on gangs in the country.
Heated argument
Lemière said in her report that after being stopped at the KLIA2 counter, she was brought to the Immigration Department office at the airport for further interrogation.
A heated argument ensued, as officers were said to have been unconvinced by the purported letter of invitation to the conference.
Lemière alleged that one of the officers screamed at her, and that a female officer had called her “sh*t” and “stupid” several times.
In her report, Lemière stated that she was eventually released around 9.55pm.
Surendran said the alleged harassment against Lemière is serious because she is a well-known academic who had been working on the political situation in Malaysia for a long time.
“Lemière was obviously placed on a blacklist by the previous BN government because they were not happy with her investigations into their activities and reporting in her impartial research on the political situation in the country.
“We are shocked that the immigration officers chose to make use of the blacklist by the old government in order to subject Lemière to a terrible experience.
“The (police) report details how she was insulted, intimidated by several officers during the incident yesterday,” he told Malaysiakini outside the police headquarters.
Surendran said he hopes authorities, including the police and Home Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, will launch an immediate investigation into the incident.
He added that Lemière is also entitled to an explanation on the conduct of the Immigration officers, as well as an assurance that there will be no repeat of such an incident.
“You cannot have a situation where a visitor comes in, completely innocent, carrying out legitimate work or research in this country, and a number of officers surround her and subject her to bullying.”
Malaysiakini has learned that the conference, ‘Perwira Dialogue: Navigating the Risk of the Thucydides Trap’, was scheduled to be officiated by Defence Minister Mohamad Sabu at the ministry’s Kuala Lumpur headquarters earlier today.
When contacted later, Liew confirmed that Lemière was invited to the dialogue.
An Immigration Department spokesperson told Malaysiakini that officers also filed a report on the matter.
“The subject provoked and insulted the officers. She did not want to obey orders,” the spokesperson said, adding that the department is looking into the incident.
– M’kini
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