Who's On The Travel Ban List, Who's Not, And Who's No Longer In Malaysia

Pua was scheduled to board a 3.15pm flight to Yogyakarta, Indonesia, from Kuala Lumpur International Airport when he was flagged by Immigration officers.

"The Immigration officers said they had no clue why I was barred, except that it was instructions from higher up. As far as I am concerned, I have committed no crime and taken part in no illegal activities in any issues relating to 1MDB," the DAP national publicity chief told reporters at the party headquarters on Wednesday.

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One of 1MDB's staunchest critics, the DAP national publicity chief had been among those who had consistently highlighted alleged malpractices in the state investment vehicle's operations and dealings.

He had recently been implicated in two video confessions by former journalist Lester Melanyi, who had alleged that the two-term MP, together with a clutch of opposition politician, had fabricated 90% of documents related to 1MDB with whistleblower site Sarawak Report as part of a campaign to topple Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

themalaysianinsider.com

Upon learning of Pua's predicament, Rafizi ran his own checks on the same website and received the the same response.

"Therefore, I suspect that I too have been blacklisted and not allowed to leave Malaysia," he said in a statement today.

Rafizi and Pua are among the opposition figures accused of fabricating documents related to 1MDB for a smear campaign against Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak.

Tong had been indirectly fingered by a series of news reports which claimed that a "media tycoon", among others, had been in touch with former PetroSaudi International Ltd (PSI) executive Xavier Andre Justo.

Justo was arrested by the Thai police on June 22 for allegedly attempting to blackmail his former employer with threats of releasing confidential company documents. According to the Thai police, the documents were eventually sold.

Ambiga said she was informed by the Immigration Department that her ban only covered travel to east Malaysia.

"I just checked with Immigration, they say I am clear to travel overseas, looks like this relates to travel to east Malaysia," she told The Star Online.

Before checking with the Immigrations Department, Ambiga said, "I am fed up with this harassment and will be looking at my legal options if my movements have been restricted. It is unbelievable that those who should be facing the full force of the law are free to go anywhere while they try and intimidate those who speak up against abuse,” she told The Malaysian Insider.

Ambiga found her name on the immigration blacklist of both Sabah and Sarawak when she tried to visit the states in November last year and in 2011, respectively.

themalaysianinsider.com

Maria, who is electoral watchdog Bersih 2.0 chief, said that she will demand to know why her name had been listed under those who need to refer to the Immigration if they wanted to leave the country.

"For now I demand to know why I need to refer to the immigration for my travels. "As a citizen, I have the liberty and right to travel in and out of my country," she said.

Maria, who'd last went abroad in April, had previously been barred from entering Sarawak but had recently returned from a trip to Sabah.

themalaysianinsider.com

She questioned the government’s move to place Malaysians on the travel blacklist, saying it was a form of “silencing expression”, pointing out that the government should instead provide answers and deal with the issues raised by those who are blacklisted.

“What Tony and Rafizi (Ramli) raised is about 1MDB and everyone wants to know the answer. Why bar them from going out, it has no relevance.

“For me, I have been talking about parliamentary reforms, institutional reforms, setting up IPCMC (Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission), what is wrong with doing all that? That’s not the way to handle constructive questions,” she asked.

“Definitely on Bersih’s part, we will be looking at legal implications with our lawyers and if they do not disbar us, we will definitely take action. Meanwhile I suggest if the immigration have no reason to bar us, then remove that bar for everyone, unless we are criminals. We are not criminals,” she said, claiming that the government was “actually criminalising dissent”.

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Tian Chua on Twitter today said he had been barred from entering Sabah, Sarawak and even Singapore.

astroawani.com

When asked about the possible reasons for the blacklist, he suggested it was pointless to think of a logical reason: “I don’t think we should use logic to think about this, I can’t rationally know why they are doing this and it looks like the list of people banned is huge, it's not just one or two people related to 1MDB so the actual reason can only be known to the prime minister probably.”

Chua said the authorities have to justify the travel blacklist, adding that the situation appears to be turning “more and more ridiculous” with the 1MDB controversy unresolved, while social activists and those who have critical views are being targeted.

“This looks like Malaysia is heading towards a dictatorship,” said the politician, who has previously been barred from entering Sabah and Sarawak.

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Kok said having clarified with the Immigration Department, she discovered that she was only barred from traveling to East Malaysia and not leaving the country.

Kok urged the Immigration Department to be more professional in barring people from travelling.

“Don’t make us waste our time in the airport only to find out we are barred. They (Immigration Department) should inform those affected in advance,” the DAP vice-chairperson said.

She asserted the barred person should be given details, such as which authority placed the ban, and the reason for it.

Social movement activist Hishamuddin Rais said he only knew about the ban on him from reports on the Internet.

He said he did not understand why he had been barred from leaving the country, adding jokingly that if he must come up with a reason, it could be because of his satirical comics.

He added that he was on a trip to perform stand-up comedy in London last year.

When asked if he is banned from Sabah or Sarawak, he replied in a text message: “Not that I know of.”

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The 25-year-old law student was charged on 23 May 2013 for his May 13 remarks allegedly inciting the public to overthrow the government through street protests during a forum shortly after the May 5 general election which saw Barisan Nasional retain power narrowly.

themalaymailonline.com

Social activist Adam Adli said that he has been blacklisted on the Immigration Department’s website for years, saying that he first discovered his name being printed online in red colour to denote the travel status since he was stopped from entering Sabah around 2013.

“I had that for years and it has not been lifted until today,” he told Malay Mail Online, referring to his status on the website.

“Just about a month ago, I went to Geneva and London and I had no trouble… But maybe this time around, with the current political dynamics, maybe I'll have to go and check again,” he said.

“It's funny to see the government is very paranoid about allowing people to go abroad, especially with people who get involved in political activity, politicians and activists, when the fight is in the country, we will not leave, you don’t have to ban us from travelling abroad,” he added.

yahoo.com

Nik Faisal has been implicated in allegations that RM2.6 billion had been deposited into Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's personal accounts.

Wanted by the special task force investigating 1MDB, Nik Faisal is a close associate of businessman Jho Low, who has also been summoned to appear before the Public Accounts Committee.

According to media reports, Nik Faisal was the "link man" between UBG, 1MDB and PetroSaudi for channelling US$260 million of 1MDB money into the purchase of UBG involving Jho Low and the then Sarawak Chief Minister Tun Abdul Taib Mahmud in 2010. He was then transferred to become CEO of 1MDB's new subsidiary SRC International Sdn Bhd.

Nik Faizal later became UBG Berhad's executive director of investments and chief investment officer (CIO) after Jho Low bought substantial shares and became a board member of the bank.

thesundaily.my

Along with Nik Faisal, Suboh was supposed to have given statements over various transactions linked to the private banking account supposedly belonging to the Prime Minister.

Sources close to the task force said intelligence reports suggest one of them is in Indonesia while the other could not be traced.

Suboh and Nik Faizal are shareholders of Gandingan Mentari Sdn Bhd, one of the two companies used as a conduit to transfer accounts from SRC to a private bank account in AmBank.

thesundaily.my

Before the 2013 elections, on March 12, 1MDB chairman Tan Sri Lodin Wok Kamaruddin and Khadem Al Qubaisi, then chairman of Abu Dhabi’s Aabar Investments, signed an agreement to form a joint venture.

The following month, 1MDB announced it had raised US$3 billion for its share of the partnership. The timing was controversial.

“1MDB may have been created with one of the key objectives being to raise a slush fund to finance Barisan Nasional’s election campaigns,” said Petaling Jaya Utara MP Tony Pua.

themalaysianinsider.com

A check on the Immigration Department website showed that his travel status is 'tiada halangan (no restrictions)'.

Mahathir has repeatedly called on Najib to step down and has been a staunch critic of 1MDB. He has warned that if Najib continues to lead, BN and Umno would be defeated in the next general election.

Following The Wall Street Journal report which claimed that RM2.6 billion of 1MDB-linked funds was deposited into the prime minister’s personal accounts, Najib took a swipe at his former mentor.

"The latest allegation is that I have taken state-linked funds for personal gain. I believe Tun (Mahathir), is working hand in glove with foreign nationals, including the now discredited political attack blog Sarawak Report, is behind this latest lie,” he said.