Govt slammed over reported detention of Egyptians

PETALING JAYA: The Malaysian government has been criticised by international human rights groups following reports that it has detained four Egyptians critical of the country’s president Abdel Fattah el-Sisi with the intention of extraditing them.

According to Al Jazeera report, a Foreign Ministry source confirmed yesterday that four Egyptians had been detained in an operation by the Immigration Department and the Special Branch.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the source said the men were not registered as refugees.

“We can confirm the four have been arrested under the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act (Sosma).

“They are in the hands of the Immigration Department, and the Egyptian embassy has been informed,” the official was quoted as saying.

The article also detailed an account by eyewitnesses who said one of the men, Mohammed Fathi, had his vehicle stopped and was taken away by three masked men in Malaysian military uniform, along with several others in civilian clothes.

The wife of Abdullah Hisham Mustafa, another of the men facing deportation, said she was in the dark over her husband’s fate. Her husband could be tortured or executed if handed over to Egyptian authorities, she had said in thereport.

Lawyer and human rights activist Latheefa Koya said on Twitter that extradition could endanger the lives of the four.

Thereport also quoted Ahmed Azzam, the Union of NGOs of the Islamic World deputy secretary-general, as alleging that Malaysian authorities were attempting to cover up the deportations.

He also claimed that the Malaysian police and Egyptian intelligence might have planned the move without the knowledge of government officials.

The article did not provide details about the remaining two detained.

As at press time, requests for confirmation on the detention from Foreign Minister Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah were unsuccessful as it is learnt that he was travelling home after an official trip to the Philippines.