Former Bersih secretariat member Mandeep Singh (above) has come a long way having been appointed special functions officer to Communications and Multimedia Minister Gobind Singh Deo since July last year.
However, his plans to accompany the minister on working visit to Bintulu today hit a snag when Immigration Department personnel at the airport told him that he was still subject to a travel ban imposed on him by the Sarawak government since his activist days.
“They said there is a ‘blacklist’ on me since 2016 […]
“So, it is not 'Malaysia Baru' (New Malaysia). There is no spirit of 'Malaysia Baru' in Sarawak,” he said when contacted.
He said Gobind, who was scheduled to make a two-day working visit to Bintulu, passed through immigration checks without a hitch and was waiting for him.
They had both touched down at the Bintulu airport at around 6pm.
Mandeep said he waited at the airport’s Immigration Department office for over half-an-hour for a final decision on whether he would be allowed through or be deported back to Peninsular Malaysia.
He said he was ultimately given a special pass that would allow him to remain in the state for three days.
He also said he was told that he must inform the Sarawak government in advance before travelling to the state.
It was reported previously that Mandeep was barred from entering Sarawak on Feb 15, 2016, when he was a Bersih secretariat member.
He had said at the time that a notice barring him was issued on Jan 28 that year, though he had managed to enter the state using his passport on Feb 13, 2016, with no issues.
He was travelling there to prepare Bersih’s election observers for the Sarawak state election held later that year.
Others barred from entering Sarawak at the time included then Bersih chairperson Maria Chin Abdullah who is now the Petaling Jaya MP and former Bersih co-chairperson Ambiga Sreenevasan. - Mkini
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.