Ramasamy barred from
leaving country amid
MACC probe
This purportedly has to do with MACC’s investigation into the Penang Hindu Endowments Board, which P Ramasamy used to chair.
The Urimai president was supposed to travel to Banda Aceh, Indonesia, for an event but was informed by officers that he had been blacklisted due to a “directive” from the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).
Urimai secretary-general Satees Muniandy said he contacted the Penang MACC office, which told him that the travel ban was imposed by its headquarters in Putrajaya.
He said he was also informed that this had to do with an ongoing investigation by MACC into the Penang Hindu Endowments Board (PHEB).
“The office of the Wali Nanggroe Aceh had made all the necessary preparations to host Ramasamy. This last-minute ban reflects poorly on the increasingly authoritarian political climate in our country,” he said.
FMT has reached out to MACC chief Azam Baki for comment.
Ramasamy had been set to receive a peace award from the Wali Nanggroe Aceh, or the “guardian of the state”, tonight for his role in brokering peace between Jakarta and a group seeking Aceh’s independence.
Ramasamy said he and his Urimai colleagues, Satees and P David Marshel, were supposed to travel to Aceh from Penang on a 12.25pm Firefly flight.
However, he was unable to use the immigration autogate. A query to one of the immigration officers at the airport revealed the travel ban issued by MACC.
Ramasamy accused MACC of being more authoritarian under the unity government than with the Najib Razak administration, and urged Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim to rein the agency in.
“I am disgusted by all of this. What case or evidence does MACC have against me? I am not even charged with any crime. Even an opposition party leader charged with a crime can use his passport to travel.”
He was referring to Muhyiddin Yassin, who is charged with abuse of power and money laundering but was granted the temporary release of his passport several times by the sessions court for trips overseas.
“The Malaysian government owes an apology to the Acehnese head of state, as they have made major preparations to honour me today,” Ramasamy told FMT.
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