Bourdon disputes minister’s claim

The French lawyer disputes Hishammudin Hussein's accusations of a social visa violation.

EXCLUSIVE

PETALING JAYA: Prominent French human rights lawyer William Bourdon is baffled to learn that his deportation is attributed to a violation of his social visa.

According to him, he never had such a visa in the first place.

Home Minister Hishammudin Hussein yesterday said that Bourdon, 55, was deported last Friday because he violated his social visa by giving a speech in Penang and insisted that there was no hidden political agenda.

“I don’t know what the minister is talking about because I didn’t even have a social visa. So it is very strange that he is speaking of one,” Bourdon told FMT in an interview from Paris.

His fiancee, Lea Forrestier, confirmed this in a later text message and added that citizens of the European Union do not need a visa for travel into Malaysia.

She also said that the only documentation Bourdon had filled up was a small card on which he had clearly specified that he was in Malaysia for “professional purposes”.

“My personal interpretation is that there is political motivation behind my deportation. There was no basis for the decision. And this is a very sensitive case for Malaysia,” Bourdon said.

Bourdon had first arrived in Penang on July 21 to speak at his client’s dinner on the controversial Scorpene submarine deal between Malaysia and France.

His speech at the Ops Scorpene fundraising dinner in Bayan Baru had reached – and burnt – government ears, for the lawyer, who was scheduled to give a talk here and in Ipoh, was detained by immigration authorites and sent home the next day.

His client, Suaram, had hired Bourdon in 2009 to file a case against French naval giant DCNS over irregularities in the Scorpene deal that allegedly involved millions of ringgit in kickbacks.

The French authorities are currently probing the deal, which was also linked to Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak and the murder of Mongolian national Altantuya Shaariibuu.