Forum-Asia presses Malaysia to release Bangladesh activist

Yesterday, Adilur Rahman Khan, Secretary of Odhikar and Vice Chair of FORUM-ASIA, was detained by Malaysian Immigration at Kuala Lumpur International Airport.

In a statement to the media, FORUM-ASIA said there were no reasons given for his detention.

Suara Rakyat Malaysia (SUARAM), Malaysian FORUM-ASIA member, was informed that he has been moved to an immigration lock-up.

Adilur Rahman Khan is an Advocate of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh, a former Deputy Attorney General for Bangladesh (October 2001 – May 2007) and a founder and the Secretary of the human rights organisation Odhikar.

He has been part of the Executive Committee of FORUM-ASIA since 2012, and became Vice Chair in 2016.

FORUM-ASIA calls for the immediate release of Adilur Rahman Khan, and echoes its previous calls to the Government of Malaysia to cease the harassment and persecution of human rights defenders.

No further information on his situation and the reasons behind his detention is available as of now.

For further information, please contact [email protected]

Travel Ban Against Singaporean

In June, the Malaysian authorities deported Han Hui Hui back to Singapore and prevent her from participating in a human rights workshop in Kuala Lumpur.

“Malaysian authorities treated Ms. Han as if she were a dangerous criminal. The travel ban imposed on Ms. Han limits her rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly and must be lifted immediately,” said FIDH President Dimitris Christopoulos.

On 18 June 2017, Immigration Department officers at Kuala Lumpur International Airport prevented Ms. Han from clearing immigration and detained her for several hours.

During the detention, plainclothes officers informed Ms. Han that she was blacklisted from entering Malaysia.