Fahmi Reza issues letter of demand over ‘travel ban'
Published on: Saturday, June 14, 2025
Published on: Sat, Jun 14, 2025
By: FMT Reporters Text Size: Graphic artist and activist Fahmi Reza was stopped at KLIA Terminal 2 on June 7 while trying to board a flight to Singapore. (Fahmi Reza pic) PETALING JAYA: Activist and graphic artist Fahmi Reza has issued a letter of demand to the authorities after being prevented from travelling abroad recently, despite no official travel ban in place. The letter, dated June 13 and shared on Fahmi's social media pages, was addressed to Inspector-General of Police Razarudin Husain, immigration director-general Zakaria Shaaban, and home minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail.
Advertisement According to his lawyer, Yohendra Nadarajan, Fahmi was stopped at KLIA Terminal 2 on June 7 while trying to board a flight to Singapore. Immigration officials at the airport had reportedly told Fahmi to check with Bukit Aman on the travel restriction. The next day, Razarudin was reported as saying there was no travel ban on Fahmi but that his name had been placed on an 'internal movement monitoring list for investigation purposes'. Yohendra said that there is no basis under the law for Fahmi to be added to such a list, adding that Fahmi had previously been told, in 2022 when renewing his passport, that his name had already been removed from any such list. He added that checks on the immigration department's website showed conflicting information, with the Bahasa Melayu version stating he was restricted, but the English version stating he was not. For the record, the department has since acknowledged the discrepancy and said it was conducting a technical review. 'No authority has taken responsibility for the violation of our client's rights on June 7,' Yohendra said. He added that Fahmi is demanding the removal of his name from all monitoring lists, the lifting of any travel restrictions, and compensation, with the amount to be determined. 'If no response is received within seven days from the date of this letter, we will assume the authorities have chosen to maintain our client's name on the listing and a travel restriction is still in effect,' he said. FMT has reached out to Razarudin, Zakaria and Saifuddin for comment. * Follow us on our official WhatsApp channel and Telegram for breaking news alerts and key updates! * Do you have access to the Daily Express e-paper and online exclusive news? Check out subscription plans available.
Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express's Telegram channel. Daily Express Malaysia
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Star
2 hours ago
- The Star
Pope Leo, from Chicago, makes his first US pitch at White Sox Park
CHICAGO (Reuters) -Pope Leo, a native of Chicago's south side and a long-time fan of his beloved but beleaguered White Sox, sent a video message on Saturday to a sellout crowd attending Catholic Mass in his honor at their hometown ballpark. The pontiff, the first leader of the global Catholic Church from the United States, appeared for about seven minutes on Rate Field's jumbotron during the event, organized by the Chicago archdiocese and featuring several other local personalities, including Bulls announcer Chuck Swirsky. "It's a pleasure for me to greet all of you gathered together at White Sox Park on this great celebration," the pope said in the video message, his first public address to the his election on May 8 to replace the late Pope Francis. The new pope called on Chicagoans to put aside "egotistical ways" in order to spread hope and work to build community in their hometown. "We have to look for ways of coming together and promoting a message of hope," he said, speaking in English with a slight Chicago accent. Hours before the event at Rate Field started, people had gathered around the stadium, including kids in White Sox jerseys, hawkers selling "Da Pope" baseball hats, nuns in white and blue habits and priests in their collars. Saturday's event, led by Chicago Cardinal Blase Cupich, took place as demonstrations were held in cities across the U.S., including at Chicago's Daley Plaza, to protest President Donald Trump's crackdown on undocumented immigrants, and in Washington, D.C., ahead of the president celebrating his 79th birthday with a military parade. The pope did not mention politics, and instead offered a message of encouragement to young people. Sister Barbara Reid, president of the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago, where the pope attended seminary in the 1980s, told Reuters she hoped his message could help unite the U.S. "A celebration that's centered on hope and possibility and unity is needed now more than ever before," she said. "Hopefully this can be a catalyst to bring us together." Leo, the former Cardinal Robert Prevost, was born in Dolton, on the outskirts of the city's south side, and has spent most of his career as a priest outside the U.S. He is a member of the Augustinian religious order, and spent decades in Peru as a missionary and bishop, before first taking up a senior Vatican role in 2023. In a nod to Leo's close ties to the South American country, his celebration in Chicago on Saturday began with a performance of Peru's national anthem. The U.S. national anthem followed, performed by Leo High School's choir, which was a contestant on "America's Got Talent." The pope's family, including a brother who still lives in a Chicago suburb, has spoken about the pontiff's enthusiasm for the White Sox, even as the rival Chicago Cubs also tried to claim him. Leo briefly donned the trademark black-and-white Sox cap offered by a pilgrim during his weekly audience in St. Peter's Square on Wednesday. TICKETS RESELL FOR MORE THAN $1,200 On the first day that tickets became available for Saturday's event, more than 10,000 tickets were sold in the first 15 minutes, the White Sox said. Tickets, which sold for $5 apiece, hit resale sites like StubHub for more than $1,200 just hours after they were released, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. While Catholic parishes across the city, including the one where the Prevost family attended Mass, have shuttered amid waning church attendance, Chicago's identity is still very much entwined with the Catholic Church. When meeting strangers, Chicagoans sometimes identify their neighborhood by the name of the closest parish. "A lot of people in Chicago just have great pride that the new pope is from Chicago," said Rev. Tom McCarthy, a popular preacher from the city who is also an Augustinian. "They want to celebrate it together." The White Sox (39-121) set the modern-day record for most losses in a single season in 2024. This year, the team has the worst record in the American League so far. Fans pray the Mass gives the team a divine boost. "We need all the help we can get," said McCarthy, a lifelong Sox fan. "If the field is going to be blessed by this event, hopefully it will go right through to the players." (Reporting by Tom Polansek and Joshua McElwee, additional reporting by Emily Schmall in Chicago, Editing by Emily Schmall and Deepa Babington)
.jpg&w=3840&q=100)
Daily Express
9 hours ago
- Daily Express
Impian urges Kepayan youth to update voter info at special SPR counter
Published on: Saturday, June 14, 2025 Published on: Sat, Jun 14, 2025 By: Jonathan Nicholas Text Size: KOTA KINABALU: Parti Impian Sabah is calling on young voters, especially those from rural areas now working in the city, to update their voting information ahead of the 17th Sabah State Election. Its Kepayan chief, Michelle Chin said many young voters have not changed their polling centre details due to the limited weekday operating hours of the Election Commission (SPR) counters. Advertisement "I've requested SPR to open a special service counter on Saturday (June 21) at Rumah Murah Kepayan to assist those who wish to update their polling centre," she said. The mobile counter will be set up at DJ Cafe, Rumah Murah Kepayan, Penampang from 8.00am to 12.00pm. Services include checking and updating voter details, changing localities, and voter registration. Chin also urged the public to spread the word. "I believe this is the most effective way to reach the public and ensure more people can vote where they actually reside,' she added. * Follow us on our official WhatsApp channel and Telegram for breaking news alerts and key updates! * Do you have access to the Daily Express e-paper and online exclusive news? Check out subscription plans available. Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express's Telegram channel. Daily Express Malaysia
The Sun
9 hours ago
- The Sun
Zelenskiy says Ukraine halts Russian troop advance in Sumy region
KYIV: Ukrainian forces have stopped Russian troops advancing in the northeastern Sumy region and are now battling to regain control along the border with Russia, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said. In remarks released for publication by his office on Saturday, Zelenskiy said that Moscow has amassed about 53,000 troops in the direction of Sumy. 'We are leveling the position. The fighting there is along the border. You should understand that the enemy has been stopped there. And the maximum depth at which the fighting takes place is 7 km (4.35 miles) from the border,' Zelenskiy said. Reuters could not verify the battlefield reports. Russia's troops have been focusing their assaults in the eastern Donetsk region. But since the start of the month, they have intensified their attacks in the north-east, announcing plans to create a so-called 'buffer zone' in the Sumy and Kharkiv regions. The Russian war in Ukraine is in its fourth year, but it has intensified in recent weeks. Ukraine conducted an audacious drone attack this month that took out multiple aircraft inside Russia and also hit the bridge connecting Russia to the annexed Crimean peninsula using underwater explosives. Moscow ramped up its air assaults after the attack. Zelenskiy said that Ukrainian troops had maintained their defensive lines along more than 1,000 kilometres of the frontline. He also dismissed Moscow's claims that Russian troops had crossed the administrative border into the central Ukrainian region of Dnipropetrovsk. Zelenskiy said that Russia was sending small assault groups 'to get one foot on the administrative border' and make a picture or a video, but these attacks were repelled. Dnipropetrovsk borders three regions that are partially occupied by Russia – Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia. Russia now controls about one-fifth of Ukrainian territory. Zelenskiy acknowledged that Ukraine was unable to regain all of its territory by military force and reiterated his pleas for stronger sanctions on Russia to force Moscow into negotiations to end the war. Two rounds of peace talks between Kyiv and Moscow in Istanbul produced few results that could lead to a ceasefire and a broader peace deal. The two sides agreed only to exchange prisoners of war. Several swaps have already been conducted this month, and Zelenskiy said he expected them to continue until June 20 or 21. In separate remarks made on communications platform Telegram on Saturday, he said that a new group of Ukrainian prisoners of war had come home as part of another swap with Russia. 'We continue to take our people out of Russian captivity. This is the fourth exchange in a week,' Zelenskiy wrote on his personal account. Ukrainian officials responsible for exchanging prisoners said the vast majority of the soldiers released in the exchange had been held captive since 2022 with many captured during the defence of Mariupol. The officials said Kyiv had, meanwhile, received the bodies of 1,200 of its soldiers killed in the war with Russia. The bodies were handed over to Ukraine on Friday. 'The agreement is that the exchanges will be completed, and the sides will discuss the next step,' Zelenskiy said.
