No charge against migrant in Al Jazeera interview – lawyer

Bangladeshi national Mohd Rayhan Kabir will be deported soon without being charged, according to one of his two lawyers.

When contacted, Rayhan's counsel Sumitha Shaanthinni Kishna confirmed her client will be released from Immigration detention where he remained since being arrested on July 24.

"He will be deported as soon as his Covid-19 test is done and his flight ticket is ready," she said.

"He was only investigated under the Immigration Act 1957/1963," Sumitha told Malaysiakini.

Authorities had previously launched a manhunt against Rayhan in connection with the controversial Al Jazeera documentary "Locked Up in Malaysia's Lockdown".

The documentary sparked public outcry for making allegedly false statements on the government's treatment of undocumented migrants during the movement control order (MCO) period.

Rayhan went into hiding after Immigration revoked his employment pass for allegedly breaching its terms through his statements made in the documentary.

Since then, the authorities had also probed seven Al Jazeera staff involved in the production of the documentary, raided the international broadcaster's office in Kuala Lumpur, as well as offices of Astro and UnifiTV for airing the episode.

Al Jazeera English Channel's managing director Giles Trendle in an interview with Malaysiakini previously said Rayhan had consented to be featured on the record in the episode but the "witch hunt" against him was regrettable.

Public sentiment against refugees and migrants have intensified since the MCO was imposed in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic with hateful comments proliferating on the Internet.

NGOs said the crackdown by the authorities against undocumented foreign citizens during the MCO, some of whom had contracted the disease due to living in closed quarters, has also exacerbated negative sentiments against refugees and migrants. - Mkini