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Monday, December 8, 2014

Putrajaya revokes passports of Alvin Tan, Ali Abd Jalil

Director-general of Immigration Datuk Mustafa Ibrahim says today Malaysia will not tolerate those who insulted the judiciary and Malay rulers after announcing the revocation of the passports of two asylum-seekers. – The Malaysian Insider pic by Afif Abd Halim, December 8, 2014.Director-general of Immigration Datuk Mustafa Ibrahim says today Malaysia will not tolerate those who insulted the judiciary and Malay rulers after announcing the revocation of the passports of two asylum-seekers. – The Malaysian Insider pic by Afif Abd Halim, December 8, 2014.
The Immigration Department today revoked the Malaysian passports of sex blogger Alvin Tan and activist Ali Abd Jalil, who are seeking political asylum abroad.
Director-general of Immigration Datuk Mustafa Ibrahim said such individuals would not be "tolerated".
"We will not tolerate any individual who insults the judiciary and Malay rulers," Mustafa told a press conference in Putrajaya today.
"Besides sending the notices, we will also place announcements in local newspapers about the department's decision," he said.
"Both individuals have also been blacklisted in our database, hence they will need special dispensation in order to return to Malaysia."
Mustafa explained that Tan and Ali would need to apply for an emergency certificate from Malaysian missions abroad if they wanted to return home.
However, he said the emergency certificate could only be used once and not multiple times like an international passport.
He added that this move was unprecedented for the department which had never revoked any Malaysian's passport before.
He said both Putrajaya and Home Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi had been very patient and tolerant of Tan's antics.
"We could have taken action against Tan much earlier but we did not," Mustafa said when asked why the department was only acting now.
"We have been acting in a very dignified and tolerant manner but both Tan and Ali have been continually issuing comments which cause discomfort.
"Let this be an example to anyone who insults the judiciary, the Malay rulers and Islam. We will not hesitate to take action," Mustafa said.
Mustafa added that the issuance of a Malaysian international passport was a "privilege" and not a right, hence it should not be taken for granted.
"The government has a discretion whether or not to issue, delay the issue or withdraw a passport," he said.
"It is obvious that before the government places in the hand of a citizen a document which pledges the honour of the country, the government is entitled to scrutinise the credentials of such persons."
He warned that the department would not hesitate to take action against those who insulted the courts, religion and Malay rulers.
He said that this was a lesson to all Malaysians, not just Ali and Tan.
However, Mustafa added that Ali and Tan were still Malaysians as their citizenships had not been revoked or removed.
On the passports of Malaysians who were fighting in the Middle East with the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (Isis) forces, Mustafa said there were no plans to revoke their travel documents.
Tan yesterday challenged the home minister to carry out his threat to revoke his passport.
"Don't just threaten. Just do it. Don't be (a) coward," Tan had said on his Facebook page in response to Zahid's comments that Putrajaya was mulling the move after Tan criticised the sultan of Selangor for stripping Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim of his state award.
Zahid said the Immigration Department had the power to cancel Tan's passport as the document was not an individual’s property.
Tan is currently in Los Angeles, California while Ali is in Sweden where he has been seeking political asylum since October.
Ali faces three sedition charges for allegedly insulting the Johor royalty and the sultan of Selangor in his Facebook postings.
Ali was first detained on September 8 and taken into police custody in Kuala Lumpur, Selangor and Johor.
On September 23, he was released after posting bail of RM8,000 at the Shah Alam court complex.
His freedom was short-lived as he was re-arrested and taken to Johor, reportedly because other police reports had been lodged against him there.
Following his ordeal, Amnesty International adopted him as a prisoner of conscience, saying it was part of a push to ensure he did not suffer further punishment or selective prosecution.
- TMI

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