Dr Kamarulnizam: Alvin needs merit, 'promoter' to get political asylum

Controversial blogger Alvin Tan’s act to continuously insult the nation’s leadership and royal institution has resulted in the decision taken by Home Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi to revoke his international passport.

According to Professor Dr. Mohd Kamarulnizam Abdullah from Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM), Kedah, Alvin, who is believed to be in Los Angeles, USA, has a few choices if his passport is revoked.

“If he is still interested in being a Malaysian citizen, he must return to his homeland and surrender himself. He will be arrested as soon as he enters the country, for example at the airport.

“He can also seek political asylum from the authorities of the country that he is in, with the excuse that he fears for his safety,” he said.

Mohd Kamarulnizam said apart from that, Alvin can also head to any other country which sympathizes with his fate and ask for political asylum.

He however added, individuals who wish to do so, should present the their case to the country first.

“The individual also needs a 'promoter' to bring a case to the other countries. Considering this possibility, who will be the promoter?” he asked.

He said that without the international passport, Alvin can only travel using United Nations (UN) travel documents but UN adheres to strict procedures before granting the travel documents.

“Malaysia is not a police that. Whatever we do has to abide by the rule of law,” he said.

Meanwhile, lawyer Mohd Yusmadi Yusoff opined that citizenship is not a right but a privilege.

"The decision made by the Malaysian government is a reaction to Alvin’s action to fled from law and insulting the country’s name outside of Malaysia,” he said.

He said, usually a country will give political asylum to an individual such as Alvin based on political suppression cases, and not economic reasons.

"In Alvin’s case, his claim that he is a victim of politics and could not get justice could be used. However, so far, I see him there is no basis to prove the case.

“He also left his girlfriend here to face the law alone. In this case, I only look at him as someone who takes advantage to save himself first,” he said.