DENIED ENTRY: Brown (left) with See showing reporters the Notice of Refusal of Entry at Kuching International Airport. — Photo by See Chee How
KUCHING: Clare Rewcastle Brown, the journalist associated with Sarawak Report and Radio Free Sarawak was denied entry into the state when she landed at Kuching International Airport at 1.15pm yesterday.
According to Batu Lintang assemblyman See Chee How, Brown was denied entry at the airport’s Immigration check point and was later deported to Singapore on an AirAsia flight at about 3.40pm.
“A senior immigration officer told her that there is an instruction from the State Security Office not to allow her to enter Sarawak. A ‘Notice of Refusal of Entry’ signed by an assistant director of Immigration for the director of Immigration was issued to her, citing Section 65 (1) (a) of the Immigration Act 1959/63,” he said in a press statement received here yesterday.
In a video recording, Brown expressed her anger and disappointment over the action of the state government, accusing them of colluding with the political families in the state to abuse their powers in order to silence their critics.
She also explained that her purpose of coming to the state was to give instructions to her lawyers in an attempt to defend a defamation suit that was brought against her by one of the powerful political families; that the plaintiffs in this case included a rich corporation traded at the London Stock Exchange, a senior politician, a ‘Tan Sri’ and established companies in Sarawak.
The legal firm of Baru Bian who is also state PKR liaison chief and Ba Kelalan assemblyman will be acting for Brown in the defamation case.
“How can I have a fair trial in this circumstance? They are abusing the judicial process of this country that I am not having the chance to enter and no opportunity to even discuss the case and give instructions to them.”
“Have the gut to come and sue me in the UK,” she said.
Brown threw the challenge at the plaintiffs, saying she was not revealing their names if they withdrew the case within a week.
Both See and Baru were at the airport with Brown during the incident.
See was scheduled to fly to Miri yesterday, but abandoned the trip after he was notified by Browne of her predicament.
He then approached the Immigration officer to confirm and explain Brown’s case in court but was told that the department had to act according to instructions from the state government.
“I am embarrassed because we are denying the entry of a foreign journalist who is being sued here and she is not allowed to enter Sarawak.
“She is not by any stretch of imagination threatening the security of Sarawak or this country, but she is now completely denied of an opportunity to defend herself in a suit that is to commence here.”
He said Brown was not the first to be denied entry into the state. PKR Subang MP Sivarasa Rasiah and many other NGO activists such as Maria Chin Abdullah, Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan, Wong Ching Huat, Ong Boon Kiong and Kua Kia Foong were also denied entry into the state.
No official reason was given by the state for denial of entry of these persons.