Retired Singaporean allowed to challenge 'unlawful' detention by immigration

 

The High Court sitting in Kuala Lumpur has allowed a senior Singaporean citizen to seek a court declaration that he was unlawfully detained for eight days by the Malaysian Immigration authorities in 2018.

Judge Noorin Badaruddin dismissed the application by the Attorney-General's Chambers (AGC) to strike out the 65-year-old Wong Chun Khuen’s legal challenge on Wednesday, which allowed the suit to be heard in the court.  

Wong’s lawyer Arun Kasi (above) confirmed this when contacted by Malaysiakini yesterday, adding that the judge has fixed Aug 24 for mention of the case.

Arun said his client filed the civil action in the High Court on Jan 26 this year, seeking a declaratory order that the Malaysia Immigration authorities have unlawfully detained Wong from March 28 to April 4 in 2018.

“My client was illegally detained for eight days after the magistrate's court issued the release order,” Arun added.

This is the second time that Wong has sought for court declaration regarding the unlawful detention that he experienced.

On May 5 last year, the media reported that the High Court in Kuala Lumpur declared that Wong's detention by the Johor Immigration Department from March 14 to 26, 2018, was illegal as the court found that Wong was not produced before a magistrate within 14 days of his arrest.

The court declared that Article 5(4) of the Federal Constitution was infringed as Wong was not brought before a magistrate within 14 days of his arrest. Wong was only brought to court on March 26, 2018, which was the 27th day of his detention.

Wong, who is a retired Singaporean engineer, was arrested by Immigration Department officers during a raid on his house in Johor Bahru, at about 11.05 pm on Feb 28, 2018.

The officers arrested him and a few other foreigners in the house. Wong was then taken to the Setia Tropika Immigration Detention Centre on March 1, 2018, and was two days later moved to the Pekan Nanas Immigration Detention Centre.

Wong was then produced before a magistrate on March 26 of the same year, whereby he pleaded guilty to an immigration offence under Section 55E of the Immigration Act. He was fined RM30,000.

However, he was not released immediately after he paid the fine. In fact, Wong was detained for another eight days at the Kluang Prison, and then at the Pekan Nanas Immigration depot before he was released. - Mkini