Lawyer and activist Haris Ibrahim (pic), who was barred from entering Australia last week due to his impending sedition trial here, will soon submit a new application for a visa.
“I met the authorities from the high commission on Friday afternoon and I will be making a fresh application for a visa soon,” he told The Malaysian Insider.
Haris, who had returned from overseas last week, said he did not want to go into details of why his visa application had been rejected, except that the reason was stated in a notice along with the rejected application.
Last week, Haris said in a blog posting that he had sent an email to the high commission requesting a meeting to lay to rest any concerns the Australian government might have about his visit to the country.
Australia refused to issue an entry visa to Haris last week, scuttling his plans to tour the country and meet academics and supporters.
It is believed the Australia officials considered him a "high risk" because the country does not have an extradition treaty with Malaysia, according to a Global Bersih source in Melbourne.
The Sydney Morning Herald had reported that Murray Hunter, an academic at the University of Malaysia Perlis, had said the decision to ban Haris showed that the Australian government did not want to rock the boat with Kuala Lumpur.
Haris, PKR vice-president Tian Chua, former Umno member Tamrin Ghafar and activist Safwan Anag were charged with sedition for allegedly uttering words that have the tendency to call on Malaysians to change the government by unlawful means during a May 13 forum at the Kuala Lumpur and Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall.
All four pleaded not guilty. Haris’s trial is scheduled to take place early next year. – September 29, 2013.
No comments:
Post a Comment