DAP publicity secretary Tony Pua was allowed to enter Miri for a few hours before he was sent back to Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday. – The Malaysian Insider pic by Seth Akmal, September 25, 2015.
DAP publicity secretary Tony Pua was barred from entering Sarawak for several reasons, including his strident criticism of debt-ridden state investment firm 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB), according to Utusan Malaysia.
The Umno-owned Malay daily cited a Sarawak government source, saying that the blacklist on Pua, a federal lawmaker, was a recent development based on various grounds, including his attacks on 1MDB.
“Before this Tony was allowed to enter Sarawak but his name was recently blacklisted for several reasons, including his accusations against 1MDB,” the source told Utusan.
Sarawak has autonomy over its immigration regulations and has barred other opposition politicians, including DAP’s Seputeh MP Teresa Kok and PKR secretary-general Rafizi Ramli.
Lawyer and activist Datuk Ambiga Srreenevasan and Bersih 2.0 resource person Dr Wong Chin Huat have also been barred.
Pua was deported from the state on Wednesday, six hours after he had arrived and cleared Immigration at the Miri airport.
He was picked up by three Sarawak Immigration Department officers as he was having lunch in Lutong, Miri and put on a 4.20pm flight back to Kuala Lumpur.
He was scheduled to visit several rural projects in Miri, Lawas, Kuching and Bintulu, all of which are part of DAP’s Impian Sarawak initiative.
Sarawak DAP has said it will challenge Pua’s deportation in court.
- TMI