A lawyer representing deported Pakistani Syed Fawad Ali Shah has lambasted the home minister over his parliamentary reply stating the journalist was arrested last year for not having a valid entry pass.
P Waytha Moorthy in a statement claimed that the Immigration Department misled Saifuddin Nasution Ismail into providing the answer to justify Syed Fawad's deportation.
The Malaysia Advancement Party president also alleged that immigration, led by Khairul Dzaimee Daud at the time, had colluded with Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency to arrest and deport the journalist, who is renowned for probing government corruption and missing persons in his home country.
"The Malaysian immigration and police were fully aware of the presence of Syed Fawad in Malaysia since 11 years ago after he fled Pakistan following the Pakistani secret service making various attempts on his life including a bomb blast.
"In fact, Syed Fawad had been cooperating and was in close touch with the police and immigration since then.
"The home minister’s explanation in Parliament that Syed Fawad was deported on grounds of not having a valid entry pass reeks of irresponsibility on Malaysia’s part in the eyes of the international human rights bodies," Waytha (above) said.
He added that it was also against Malaysia’s commitment to the United Nations conventions and principles.
The home minister, in answering a question from Jelutong MP RSN Rayer, said Syed Fawad was arrested for not having a valid pass to enter Malaysia before he was deported back to his home country last August.
Previously, Saifuddin reportedly said the 41-year-old was a refugee in Malaysia prior to his deportation at the request of the Pakistani government.
Last month, a news portal quoted Waytha saying the journalist had told his wife that ISI had abducted him from Malaysia.
‘Breach of int’l laws’
In his statement today Waytha said Syed Fawad's "secret deportation" was a clear breach of legal provisions and protections given to a refugee under the Refugee Convention 1951.
The lawyer said the extradition treaty Malaysia has with Pakistan should have been used in dealing with Syed Fawad's case.
"While I understand that the action of deporting Syed Fawad took place under the previous government, the civil society is shocked by the extent Saifuddin was misled by top immigration officers to justify the unlawful actions of the previous immigration director-general in unlawfully cooperating with ISI in a clandestine manner.
"The government should have used the treaty and its legal provisions in treating Syed Fawad.
"That would have given Syed Fawad an avenue to be legally represented and ventilate his case in a court of law that his stay in Malaysia was legal under the international laws and his recognised status under the Geneva Refugee Convention," Waytha added.
Malaysiakini has sent requests for comments to Saifuddin and Khairul.
Last year, Fawad's wife, only known as Syeda, had pleaded for Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim's help to locate her missing husband.
It was reported in March that Fawad was found alive in a prison in Pakistan. - Mkini
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