'Outrageous betrayal for govt to appeal court-backed citizenship'
Published: Nov 27, 2025 10:15 AM
Updated: 1:15 PM
The Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) appealing against court-ordered citizenship verdicts was an outrageous betrayal, said lawyer Latheefa Koya.
She called on the prime minister to immediately instruct the AG to cease such unnecessary objections and for the government to speed up all pending cases of stateless Malaysians.
She was responding to the Court of Appeal’s decision that dismissed the AGC’s appeal against an Ipoh High Court’s order that granted citizenship to a three-generational stateless family in 2024.
“This decision poses a big question. Why did the Madani government pursue this case and appeal against a High Court decision which had affirmed the rights of people who were made generationally stateless?
“Especially when it was caused in the first place by the bureaucratic failures of the home ministry?
“This is not the only case. The Madani government is continuing this oppressive conduct and pursuing many other cases like this, all the way to the Federal Court.
The Court of Appeal and Federal Court operate in the Palace of Justice, Putrajaya
“This is an outrageous betrayal by the Pakatan Harapan coalition as they had promised to resolve statelessness among Malaysians and took it (the issue) up to fish for votes,” Latheefa said in a statement today.
The former MACC chief commissioner noted that Harapan leaders used to speak up on cases like this.
But now, she claimed, the same leaders and the government have turned out to be the “oppressors”.
“Why are the full resources of this government being used to prevent poor stateless people from being recognised as citizens?
“The majority of them cannot afford lawyers and cannot fight the massive resources of the government and the AGC.
“I am also appalled by the complicity of so many who are today in the federal cabinet and in government benches in Parliament, who are silent as the government continues to object to legitimate stateless persons’ pleas for recognition of citizenship of this country.”
Such silence, she added, is the worst kind of hypocrisy as it victimises the poor, the desperate, and the dispossessed, including thousands of children.
Appeal dismissed, citizenship reaffirmed
Yesterday, the Court of Appeal found “no appealable errors” in dismissing the government’s appeal against a High Court judgment that granted citizenship to Kamaladevi Kanniappan and her lineage.
Despite having Malaysian grandparents, Kamaladevi was not recognised as a citizen because her mother, Letchimee, only had a birth certificate and not an IC up until her death.
This made her children and grandchildren stateless due to her inability to register her marriage to a Malaysian man.
The appellate court also found that the stateless individuals were citizens by operation of law because the matriarch of the family was Malaysian.
“This is an outrageous betrayal by the Pakatan Harapan coalition as they had promised to resolve statelessness among Malaysians and took it (the issue) up to fish for votes,” Latheefa said in a statement today.
The former MACC chief commissioner noted that Harapan leaders used to speak up on cases like this.
But now, she claimed, the same leaders and the government have turned out to be the “oppressors”.
“Why are the full resources of this government being used to prevent poor stateless people from being recognised as citizens?
“The majority of them cannot afford lawyers and cannot fight the massive resources of the government and the AGC.
“I am also appalled by the complicity of so many who are today in the federal cabinet and in government benches in Parliament, who are silent as the government continues to object to legitimate stateless persons’ pleas for recognition of citizenship of this country.”
Such silence, she added, is the worst kind of hypocrisy as it victimises the poor, the desperate, and the dispossessed, including thousands of children.
Appeal dismissed, citizenship reaffirmed
Yesterday, the Court of Appeal found “no appealable errors” in dismissing the government’s appeal against a High Court judgment that granted citizenship to Kamaladevi Kanniappan and her lineage.
Despite having Malaysian grandparents, Kamaladevi was not recognised as a citizen because her mother, Letchimee, only had a birth certificate and not an IC up until her death.
This made her children and grandchildren stateless due to her inability to register her marriage to a Malaysian man.
The appellate court also found that the stateless individuals were citizens by operation of law because the matriarch of the family was Malaysian.
FAM backed foreign players..instant cirizenship approval ..
ReplyDelete