Sarawak govt yet to decide on Rewcastle Brown travel ban

Clare Rewcastle Brown. -AFPpic

KUCHING: Sarawak government has yet to decide whether to lift its entry ban on Sarawak Report editor Clare Rewcastle Brown.

Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg said the British investigative journalist’s entry ban to Sarawak remains effective under the state Immigration Department “undesirable elements” list.

“She (Rewcastle Brown) has been on the list since my predecessors’ time. I haven’t decided whether to remove her from the list,” he told reporters after presenting kuih Raya to 10 security forces and rescue agencies at the old Sarawak Legislative Assembly building here Wednesday.

The state government barred Rewcastle Brown, who was born in Sarawak, from returning to the state following a series of investigative articles on alleged corruption and abuse of power against the previous state government regime, particularly under the current Sarawak Governor Tun Abdul Taib Mahmud when he was chief minister.

Rewcastle Brown was in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday following the fall of the Barisan Nasional government. The new Pakatan Harapan administration, after capturing Putrajaya on May 9, dropped the warrant of arrest on her after she was declared persona non grata by the previous regime.

She has been openly critical of the Barisan government through its whistleblower website Sarawak Report, particularly on the 1MDB affair under former Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak’s administration.

Rewcastle-Brown had been wanted by the police following the arrest warrant issued by Bukit Aman since 2015 for allegedly committing offences detrimental to parliamentary democracy and spreading false reports and statements to cause public alarm.

The Sarawak Report website is now accessible again after being barred by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission for over two years.

The commission blocked access to Sarawak Report in July 2015, on grounds that it undermined the stability of the nation.