Do you consider yourself ‘outspoken’? Well, then the Malaysian government has something to tell you.
Fresh from a news report on possible travel bans for government critics, a deputy minister has advised ‘vocal’ Malaysians to check their travel status with the Immigration Department.
READ: Insult the government and you can be barred from international travel
With the department confirming that such a provision exists, Deputy Home Minister Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed used Bersih 2.0 chairperson Maria Chin — who could not leave the country to accept a human rights award in South Korea — as an example of someone who should have checked if she was allowed to leave the country.
“… she should have checked with the Immigration Department to see if she was still barred from leaving the country or whether it (the restriction) had been lifted,” he was quoted as saying in a report by the New Straits Times.
According to him, the Immigration director-general would ultimately decide if a statement was defamatory enough to warrant a ban. The decision would also take into account the public’s reaction, Nur Jazlan said.
“All I am saying is, the power to go in and out of the country is at the discretion of the Immigration DG and he also issues the passport – which is actually a privilege, not a right.”
“Some people do things individually; it does not affect people directly but has an effect on the country’s image. There are some people who do things with the deliberate intention to bring down the country’s image and reputation”, he was quoted further.
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