Hisham defends Saudi deportation amid protests

The minister also denied receiving any court order to stop the deportation of the 23-year-old.

UPDATED

SUNWAY: Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein today stuck by Putrajaya’s controversial decision to deport Saudi journalist Hamza Kashgari amid protests and concerns that he may be executed.
The minister also denied receiving any court order to stop the deportation of the 23-year-old.
Hishammuddin said the decision was made to protect Malaysia’s reputation, adding that he does not want the country to be a safe haven “for terrorists and those who are wanted by their countries of origin, and also be seen as a transit country”.
Saudi Arabia’s English daily Arab News cited today informed sources as saying Hamza, who fled to Kuala Lumpur on Thursday, will face charges of blasphemy for allegedly mocking the Muslim Prophet Muhammad in his twitter postings,
Blasphemy is a crime punishable by death under Saudi Arabia’s strict interpretation of Islamic syariah law. It is not a capital crime in Malaysia.
He was deported from Malaysia yesterday, just hours before his Malaysian lawyers managed to obtain a court order to stop him from being send back to Saudi Arabia.
However, Hishammuddin dismissed concerns that Hamza may be executed as ridiculous, and defended the Saudi authorities.
“Allegations that he would be executed, abused, do not make sense. The country being accused is a dignified country. These are serious allegations against Saudi Arabia,” he told a press conference here.
Malaysia deported Kashgari on Sunday despite fears voiced by human rights groups that he could face execution in his home country over his Twitter comments that were deemed insulting to the Muslim prophet.
He caused an uproar in the oil-rich kingdom with comments posted on the Prophet’s birthday a week ago, prompting some Islamic clerics to call for him to face the death penalty.
No injunction

Kashgari fled the country, but was arrested by the police here on Thursday as he transitted through Kuala Lumpur International Airport. He was on his way to New Zealand.
Facing pressure over its actions, the Malaysian police had said that any charges brought against Kashgari by Saudi Arabia are internal.
Malaysia shares close relations with many Middle Eastern nations through their shared religion but is seen as a leading global voice for moderate Islam although observers say this latest controversy, on top of rising domestic Islamisation, is slowly erasing that image.
Kashgari’s lawyer in Malaysia, Mohammad Noor, told Reuters yesterday that a court order had been obtained to prevent the deportation but he was not allowed to see his client.
But Hishammuddin claimed the court issued no such injunction and said they were only rumours spread on the internet.
“Maybe in the Internet there was a court order (but) there was no injunction. No court order was given to prevent us from returning him to Saudi.
“If there was a court order, we would abide by it, but there wasn’t, so don’t make up stories,” he said.
The home minister added that Kashgari should be aware of the repercussions of insulting Islam and he would’ve been charged locally even if he was not deported.