Court stops deportation of JI suspect

Court stops deportation of JI suspect

MALAYSIA: A Malaysian court issued a temporary order on Wednesday barring the government from deporting a suspected Jamaah Islamiyah (JI) leader to his native Indonesia, the suspect's lawyers said.

The order blocks the government from repatriating Mohamad Iqbal Abdul Rahman before the High Court rules on Nov. 11 on his bid to stay in Malaysia, where he has lived for years with permanent residency status.

The government allowed a two-year order detaining Iqbal without trial on security grounds to expire in August, but instead of releasing him from prison authorities transferred him to Immigration Department custody, canceled his Malaysian residency papers and said he would be deported.

The government gave no reason for not renewing the original detention order -- though the possibility of a bureaucratic error has been raised -- or say what was delaying the deportation after his residency was revoked on Aug. 18.

Indonesia has indicated Iqbal is not on authorities' wanted lists there or subject to investigation for possible illegal activity.

Iqbal launched legal action this week challenging the withdrawal of his Malaysian residency, arguing that the government had made procedural mistakes in the process and had given no reasons for declaring him an "undesirable immigrant." -- AP