Thursday 28 Mar 2024
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Poster_Indonesia-Activist_Maria-Chin__7Jan16_TMIKUALA LUMPUR (Jan 7): Indonesian activist Mugiyanto, who was scheduled to speak at Bersih 2.0's Yellow Mania Festival tonight, was deported this afternoon, the electoral reform group said on its Twitter account.

Mugiyanto was an activist during Indonesia's 1997 reformasi and had been involved in organising student protests which eventually led to the fall of then-president Suharto's authoritarian regime.

"BREAKING: Panelis forum #YellowMania malam ini, Sdr Mugiyanto ditahan di KLIA2 dan dihantar pulang," Bersih 2.0 tweeted from its account handle @bersih2 (#YellowMania forum panelist Mugiyanto was detained at klia2 and sent home).

Pakatan Harapan chief secretary Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah, who was also tagged in the tweet, responded, "Why is the govt so scared?"

However, Mugiyanto is still scheduled to speak to those attending the forum tonight, through Skype.

Bersih 2.0 secretariat manager Mandeep Singh tweeted that the forum would continue despite the activist's deportation.

"Forum malam ini akan diteruskan walaupun @yantomugi dihantar pulang. Kami akan ber-skype dengan beliau" (The forum tonight will continue even though [Mugiyanto] has been deported. We will Skype with him).

Mugiyanto was to have been a forum speaker along with Bersih 2.0 chairman Maria Chin Abdullah at 8.30pm tonight.

The forum is among an array of events at the ongoing Yellow Mania Festival from Jan 6 to 10 at the Kuala Lumpur Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall.

Bersih 2.0 said it was holding the festival to raise more awareness about democratic reforms and to thank supporters of its Bersih 4 rally, held in August last year, which sought Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak's resignation over alleged financial scandals.

 

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