Suaram lauds temporary release of Bangladeshi politician

 

Suaram has lauded the temporary release of Bangladeshi opposition politician MA Quayum, pending the clearance of his court cases.

According to the human rights group's executive director Sevan Doraisamy, Quayum (above) was granted the temporary release pass yesterday morning.

"This action commendably demonstrates the Home Ministry’s efforts to recognise Quayum’s status as a UNHCR-registered refugee, and at a broader level, adherence to the commitment made to comply with the Kuala Lumpur High Court’s order of stay of Quayum’s deportation.

"Suaram also deeply appreciates the tireless efforts undertaken by Quayum’s lawyers to ensure his safety within Malaysia, without which today’s highly encouraging outcome would not have been possible," Sevan said in a statement this morning.

Quayum, a Bangladesh Nationalist Party leader, was apprehended in a joint operation conducted by the Malaysian police and the National Security Intelligence (NSI) of Bangladesh on Jan 12 at his residence in Ampang.

Suaram executive director Sevan Doraisamy

Quayum has reportedly been under the Malaysia My Second Home (MM2H) programme since 2015. His MM2H pass was revoked after he was detained one day after the stay order was issued.

‘Respect rule of law’

On Jan 18, the Kuala Lumpur High Court granted a stay of deportation to Quayum.

However, on Jan 30, Malaysiakini reported that the Immigration Department had signed off on an order to deport Quayum.

The department later assented to a court order to not send him home pending his habeas corpus application proceedings.

Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail previously denied that the Immigration Department had violated a court order when signing the deportation order.

Moving forward, Sevan said he hopes the government would continue to uphold its commitment to respect the rule of law and protect the integrity of the judicial system by actively refraining from harassment, intimidation, and arbitrary arrests or detention of Quayum.

"In particular, we hope the government will continue to respect and operationalise the principle of non-refoulement as we have seen recently, and not deport him (Quayum) back to his home country where his life will be in grave danger," he said. - Mkini