KOTA KINABALU: Sabah is not banning Dr Muhamad Akmal Saleh from entering the state for now, says Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor.
The Chief Minister said for now, the state does not see the Umno Youth chief as a threat to the people and unity in Sabah.
“So let us not get into this matter first. We will look at it thoroughly but so far, there is no ban on Dr Akmal,” he told reporters after a programme in Pulau Gaya near here, Sunday (April 7).
He said the state would leave most matters pertaining to Akmal to the police to sort out.
“If there is a threat to the unity here and to our multi-cultural community in Sabah, we will make a decision,” said Hajiji.
Recently, political activists had made a call to ban Dr Akmal and four others whom they alleged had "contributed to the escalation of racial and religious tensions, as well as social discord in the country", from Sabah and Sarawak.
Local leaders like former foreign minister Tan Sri Anifah Aman and Parti Bersatu Sabah youth chief Christoper Mandut have voiced their support for this proposal.
Dr Akmal was picked up by police at the Kota Kinabalu International Airport upon arrival on April 5.
He was called to give his statement over a sedition probe of a speech he gave in Kelantan, twice, the first was at 10.30am, lasting for about 90 minutes, and the second was at 12.30pm, where he was interrogated for about two hours.
He was on a one-day visit to Sabah to attend a breaking of fast programme with Sabah Umno Youth leaders in Beaufort, some 100km from here, before flying back to Kuala Lumpur on Saturday (April 6).
