Activist turned away from Sarawak

Activist turned away from Sarawak

MALAYSIA: Taking a rare step against one of its own citizens, Malaysian authorities barred a rights activist from entering a state on Borneo island to attend a conference, her group said Tuesday.

Cynthia Gabriel, the executive director of the rights organization Suaram, was stopped by immigration officials at the airport in Miri town in Sarawak state late Monday after getting off a flight from Kuala Lumpur, the group said.

Officials confiscated her passport and put her on a flight back to Kuala Lumpur early on Tuesday, Suaram said in a statement. No reason was given for the decision, it said.

Gabriel was on her way to a conference on globalization and its effect on indigenous tribes in Malaysia, a large number of which still hunt and fish for a living in the resource rich state of Sarawak. --AP