‘Govt abused power when detaining activist’

Lawyer See Chee How is bent on seeking justice for Malaysian
Election Observer-network (MEO-net) leader BK Ong who was
unfairly deported to Penang yesterday.

KUCHING: Malaysian Election Observer-network (MEO-net) leader BK Ong’s lawyers have accused the state authorities of abusing their power and detaining Ong “as if he is a criminal”.

Counsel See Chee How said Ong was in Sarawak to help instil political awareness, especially on the importance of voter registration among the natives.

Ong has found out that in some areas like Belaga and Baram between 20% and 30% of the population have registered themselves as voters.

Sarawak, See said, needed people like Ong to help voter registration.

“After all, he is spending his own money for a worthy cause. I want to see that justice is done to Ong by taking the authorities to court, and at the same time to raise the issue at the State Legislative Assembly during its meeting next month,” said See, who is also Batu Lintang assemblyman.

Ong was picked up by enforcement officers of the Sarawak Immigration Department yesteday morning while on his way to the Bengoh dam.

He was then brought to the immigration enforcement office at Pending where he was questioned by the officers and detained before being deported to Penang last night.

Contacted through SMS, Ong said the officers did not give any reason why they arrested him.

“All they told me was that they have the power to do,” said Ong.

It is understood that Ong is one of those who have been blacklisted and who is being denied entry into the state where immigration is under its control.

Unexpected defeats

Before and during the recently concluded Sarawak election, several personalities who were seen to be pro-opposition were barred from entering the state.

Among them were the president of Malaysian Civil Liberties Movement (MCLM) Harris Ibrahim, Bersih 2.0 chairman Ambiga Sreenivasan and PKR MP for Subang R Sivarasa.

During the April 16 state polls, Ong was actively monitoring the campaign and is believed to have found evidence of corruption and abuse of power by the Barisan Nasional (BN).

He was also highly critical of such practices.

Ong was en route to Bengoh yesterday to find out why the people of Bengoh voted for the BN candidate despite their strong objection to the construction of Bengoh dam that would displace at least four villages.

Ong and his team were also keen to find out why many of opposition candidates failed to secure votes in the last election.

From Bengoh, Ong was scheduled to go to Baram where a number of dams, including the Baram dam, are to be constructed.

They were to investigate how and why Dennis Ngau of the BN-PBB won the Telang Usan seat eventhough the area is the hot seat of anti-dam protesters.

All these findings would be recorded and documented for future reference.