Hindraf’s UK lawyer Imran Khan deported

Imran Khan, deemed to be a security threat, was stopped at the KLIA and sent back to the UK early Saturday morning.

GEORGE TOWN: Hindraf Makkal Sakti’s UK-based lawyer Imran Khan was deported back to United Kingdom upon his arrival at Kuala Lumpur International Airport at 1.50pm on Friday.

London-based Hindraf chairman P Waythamoorthy said Imran Khan, a prominent British human rights lawyer, was forced by the Malaysian authorities to fly back to England at 2am on Saturday, 12 hours after he was refused entry to the country.

“The authorities deemed Imran as a threat to Malaysia’s security,” said Waythamoorthy told FMT today.

Throughout his ordeal, Imran was kept stranded at the immigration checkpoint. Imran was originally scheduled to leave the country only on Aug 18. His colleague, G Suresh however was allowed entry.

Waythamoorthy said Hindraf was appalled by the excessive and unwarranted act of the Malaysian police and Home Ministry to deny entry to an internationally-renown human rights lawyer.

He also slammed the government’s act of branding Imran as a security threat. This is “absolute nonsensical and cheap stunt.”

The deportation confirmed Hindraf’s fear that the Putrajaya administration would do a ‘Bourdon’ on Imran and his colleague upon their arrival in Malaysia.

French human rights lawyer William Bourdon was deported by the government when he was here to give a speech pertaining to the billion-dollar Scorpene submarine scandal last month.

“The refusal of entry to Imran in essence means that as far as the Malaysian Indians are concerned or their cause, the government can act in authoritarian ways against the rule of law,” slammed an upset Waythamoorthy.

Following orders

The Hindraf leader said that upon his arrival at KLIA, Imran had presented himself at the immigration counter.

Imran then informed the female officer that he was in Malaysia to meet his clients, who wish to engage him on a class action suit against the former colonial, United Kingdom government.

The officer checked in her list of “wanted” persons and immediately told Imran that his request to entry was being refused.

Upon insistence, Imran then met senior immigration officers who could not give any valid reason for refusing his application to enter Malaysia.

“All that the senior immigration officer could say was that he had no problems giving Imran entry.
“But the officer said his decision to bar Imran from entry came from the top most office of special branch in Bukit Aman and the Home Ministry.

“The officer added that the police deemed Imran as a threat to Malaysia’s security,” said Waythamoorthy.
He said Imran’s deportation showed that the government has something serious to hide, thus it makes arbitrary decisions pertaining Malaysian Indian issues.

He said Imran was coming to Malaysia to represent his clients from the underclass segment of the ethnic Malaysian Indian community.

Meeting will take place tomorrow

Imran was to meet his clients, or potential clients, on Sunday morning at the Klang Hokkian Hall to consider them as co-claimants for the British, which Waythamoorthy plans to re-file soon.

Waythamoorthy said he learnt that the British Foreign Office in London had tried to engage officials from its Malaysian High Commission to make representations on behalf of Imran.

But it’s learnt that the Malaysian authorities did not cooperate favourably.

Waythamoorthy said this was clear Umno government’s apathy culture, which is “despicable and embarrassing.”

Despite Imran’s departure, Waythamoorthy said local Hindraf leaders will proceed with the closed door meeting to brief local clients, activists and sympathisers on the suit.

Waythamoorthy originally filed the class action suit on Aug 31, 2007, the 50th anniversary of Malaysia’s independence, against the United Kingdom London courts for US$4 trillion.

However, it was stalled following the Malaysian government’s clampdown on Hindraf and arrest of its lawyers under the draconian Internal Security Act (ISA).

The suit was to demand compensation for Indian Malaysians whose ancestors were brought in by the colonial government as indentured labour.

The suit claimed that, after granting independence to Malaya, the British had left the Indians without representation and at the mercy of the Malay extremism practiced by Umno government.