Aussie senator Xenophon detained at airport
The Independent senator Nick Xenophon arrived here for meetings with Minister in Prime Minister’s Department Nazri Aziz and the Election Commission.
K Pragalath, FMT
Independent Australian senator Nick Xenophon who flew into Malaysia early this morning was denied entry and is being detained for “security reasons”.
He arrived at the Low Cost Carrier Terminal at Sepang at 6.40am and was stopped by immigration officials.
“He was denied entry on security grounds and will be deported to Australia,” said Ibrahim Yaacob, who is Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim’s chief of staff when contacted.
He added that the senator is expected to be deported at 10pm.
Ibrahim and Australian High Commissioner Miles Kupa have met Xenophon who is in a detention facility at the airport.
According to Ibrahim, Xenophon and three other Australian parliamentarians are scheduled to have a meeting with Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Nazri Aziz, the Election Commission (EC) and non-governmental organisations that would be observing the upcoming 13th general election on Tuesday.
“He has an appointment with Nazri on Tuesday at 3pm. Since Xenophon has been denied entry, three other parliamentarians who were originally supposed to arrive here tomorrow have cancelled their trip,” he said.
Xenophon is no stranger to Malaysia. He previously led an international fact-finding mission to observe the Bersih 3.0 rally on April 28 last year.
The delegation found that the protest was peaceful until it was provoked by the police. The group also criticised the mainstream media for their biased reports.
Subsequently, Xenophon lodged police reports against three Umno-linked newspapers – New Straits Times (NST), Utusan Malaysia and Berita Harian – that described him as anti-Islam based on a critical speech he made against Scientology in 2009.
Utusan Malaysia had replaced the word “Scientology” with Islam when reporting on the matter. Utusan’s report was also reported in NST and Berita Harian.
‘Gross abuse of power’
Meanwhile, Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim condemned Xenophon’s detention, saying it is a violation of international protocol and an abuse of power.
“This act of detention and deportation for partisan political reasons is a gross abuse of power. It is also clearly a violation of international protocol in the treatment of visiting law-makers from abroad, particularly from member countries of the Commonwealth,” he said in a statement.
He also took Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak to task for the detention.
