Press Statement by DAP Secretary-General Lim Guan Eng and MP for Bagan in Kuala Lumpur on 5 June 2013.
DAP will fight in court for Malaysians overseas whose passports were revoked by the BN Federal government because of political involvement in opposing the corruption and abuse of power of BN. DAP will not stand idly by and watch Malaysians persecuted and victimised merely for exercising their fundamental human rights of expressing their political beliefs.
According to news reports, Immigration Director-General Datuk Alias Ahmad has confirmed that the Immigration Department would revoke the passports of 6,564 Malaysians who have been blacklisted for tarnishing the image of the country overseas, including those who took part in demonstrations overseas. Alias had earlier denied a Malay daily report quoting him as citing Section 8 of the Immigration Act 1959/63 or the Passports Act 1966 to support the decision to cancel the passports of blacklisted Malaysians.
However, by referring to the case of Federal Government vs Loh Wai Kong 1979, he insisted that the government has the right to “issue, not issue, delay the issuance of or revoke a passport”. Alias has also assured that the revocation of the passports will be done “justly”.
This “reassurance” is a mockery of the rights of Malaysians, especially when former Bar Council President and Bersih 2.0 co-chairperson Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan has pointed out that the Immigration Department does not have the right to do so, citing a 2009 Federal Court ruling that disapproved of the decision in 1979. In other words any such attempt to revoke Malaysian passports who are overseas is unlawful.
Although Alias has now promised to make further clarifications next week, the DAP demands that Prime Minister Dato’ Sri Najib Razak immediately make the government’s stand clear and to reassure Malaysians that their rights will not be revoked simply for dissenting peacefully. Such a threat is not only against natural justice, undemocratic and an act of political retribution but also goes against the very grain of national reconciliation that has been proposed by Najib himself.
DAP fully supports Datuk Ambiga in demanding that the Federal government abandons its attempt to frighten and strike fear into overseas Malaysians with threats to revoke their passports for opposing BN. I will direct the head of DAP Legal team headed by DAP MP for Puchong Gobind Singh Deo to get DAP’s lawyers take up cases of any Malaysian whose passports were revoked because of their support for PR or their opposition for BN.
LIM GUAN ENG
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民主行动党秘书长及峇眼国会议员林冠英于2013年6月5日在吉隆坡发表的文告。
行动党将会上法庭捍卫只因参与反抗国阵贪污滥权的政治活动，就遭受国阵联邦政府撤销护照的海外马来西亚人。
行动党将会上法庭捍卫只因参与反抗国阵贪污滥权的政治活动，就遭受国阵联邦政府撤销护照的海外马来西亚人。行动党绝不会袖手旁观眼巴巴看着马来西亚公民只因为履行他们的基本人权表达他们的政治信仰却遭受对付。
根据报导，移民厅总监拿督阿利亚斯已经证实移民厅将会撤销6千564名大马人的护照，原因是他们在海外破坏国家形象而被列入黑名单。阿利亚斯较早前否认一份马来日报引述他的言论称会援引1959/1963年移民法令第8条或1966年护照法令以支持撤销这些被列入黑名单的大马人士的护照。
无论如何，阿利亚斯还援用1979年联邦政府对Loh Wai Kong的案例，坚持政府拥有“发出、不发出、延后发出或撤销护照”的权力。阿利亚斯还保证可以“正当地”撤销这些护照。
这项所谓“保证”完全践踏着大马人的权力，特别是当前律师公会会长及净选盟主席拿督安美嘉援引2009年联邦法院推翻1979年的决策，指出移民厅没有权力这样做。换句话说要撤销海外大马人护照的措举，根本是违法。
虽然阿利亚斯如今承诺将在下周作出进一步说明，但行动党要求首相拿督斯里纳吉必须针对这件事马上表达政府的立场，并保证大马人不会因为和平表达异议而被撤销应有的权力。这种威吓不只违反正义、不民主及政治报复，也违反纳吉一直高呼的国家和解。
行动党全力支持拿督安美嘉要求联邦政府放弃只因为反对国阵而撤销海外大马人护照的威吓行动。我将指示以浦种国会议员哥宾星为首的行动党法律团队，以行动党的律师承接海外大马人因为支持民联或反对国阵而被撤销护照的案子。
林冠英