PENAMPANG: Sabah DAP vice-chairman Datuk Jannie Lasimbang (
pic) has urged the Sabah Immigration Department to justify its decision to bar Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections (Bersih) executive director Asraf Sharafi Mohammad Azhar from entering the State and placing him under a Sabah Warning Notice (NAS).
She said Asraf, whom she described as a civil society activist, should not be treated as a security threat unless the authorities can demonstrate that he poses an immediate risk to the State's security, and called for him to be allowed to reunite with his wife and children in Sabah.
According to Jannie, Asraf was denied entry upon arriving at Kota Kinabalu International Airport at about 7pm on Tuesday before being deported to Kuala Lumpur later that night, just days before an anti-corruption gathering scheduled this weekend.
She acknowledged Sabah's constitutional autonomy over immigration matters but said such powers should be exercised judiciously, adding that separating an individual from his family and restricting the movement of a civil society activist without a publicly stated security justification raised human rights concerns.
Jannie called on the Sabah Government to lift the entry restriction unless there are compelling and justifiable security grounds, and to ensure that activists and members of civil society will not be prevented from entering Sabah solely for exercising their democratic rights.
