Activist Ali Abd Jalil 'trolls' about returning to Malaysia

PETALING JAYA: Authorities here have denied receiving any information that activist and Swedish asylum seeker Ali Abd Jalil has been "picked up by Interpol" and was en route back to Malaysia, as he claimed on social media on Friday.

A representative from Wisma Putra said the Foreign Ministry was still trying to verify Ali's claim with its consulate in Stockholm, saying officials there were not notified by Swedish authorities of the 29-year-old's supposed arrest.

Bukit Aman Interpol's National Centre and the Home Ministry also denied receiving reports from their Swedish counterparts over the arrest.

Ali, on Friday, had posted a message on Facebook along with a picture of him smiling in front of an empty police car, claiming that "I have been picked up by Interpol," and implying that associates of the Johor Sultan was with him and adding that, "Tonight I will be brought back to Malaysia, and will arrive tomorrow at KLIA at 12pm. Never give up".

On Saturday, however, Ali told a news portal The Rakyat Post that he was only “trolling” (joking).

Ali faces three sedition charges for allegedly insulting the Johor royalty and the Selangor Sultan in posts on his Facebook page.

He moved to Sweden in October to seek political asylum, claiming that he was not treated fairly by authorities and had been threatened by gangsters and racist groups in Malaysia.

He has claimed that he is protected under the United Nations (UN) and Dublin Regulation on asylum seekers.

“I now hold an asylum card, under the law of UN and Dublin Regulation. I am no longer subject to Umno and the Sultan’s laws. This is not Malaysia,” he said earlier this week.

Ali and controversial sex blogger Alvin Tan had their passports revoked by the Immigration Department on Monday.