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Could Malaysia cane the IIU rector for harbouring an illegal?

The United States wants Malaysia to hand over one of its citizens studying at the International Islamic University. But could Kuala Lumpur without an extradition agreement between them? Malaysia decides not. But Big Brother cannot be offended. So a way out is found. Since the US has withdrawn the fellow's passport, the deputy prime minister and home minister, Dato' Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, decides he is therefore here illegally. As usual, he and his officers reacted without thought -- as indeed they did when they recommended, and pushed through parliament in the usual haste, mandatory caning for illegal immigrants and those who harbour them. All this is ignored, while Malaysia rushes posthaste to deport him for in her view, he is here illegally. As far as the Prime Minister and his cabinet is concerned, it is an admirable solution to what could turn out a messy affair.

The man, 25-year-old US citizen of Saudi origin, Mr Ahmed Ibrahim Bilal, arrived in this country legally a year ago to enrol at the IIU. When he saw his photograph flashed on CNN over the weekend, he surrendered to the IIU authorities, who then hands him over to the police. The US government has now formally asked for his return for trial. But if Malaysia did, she would be at odds yet again with the hyperactive Muslim community, those the government brands as supporters of terrorism. So, the decision to make him an illegal seemed an easy way out. Then another messy card is sprung. Mr Bilal goes to court to challenge his deportation, and on being granted a stay, asks for political asylum. The inference is clear. If he is given asylum, he would not have to be sent back. Just as Yazid Sifat, the former officer in military intelligence, at the centre of a row between the US and Malaysia over his alleged funding of a man on trial in the United States for terrorist activities, is detained under the Internal Security Act.

But is it that simple? Two conflicting pressures surface. If Dato' Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's claim he is here illegally is accepted, then he must, under the amended Immigration Act, have Mr Bilal charged as an illegal immigrant, and the IIU rector charged for harbouring him. It is an open-and-shut case. An automatic caning must, under the law, be prescribed for both, along with a jail sentence. But he cannot. Then Indonesia's claim that Malaysia is selective about how she treats illegal immigrants rings true, and can only worsen bilateral ties between Kuala Lumpur and Jakarta. If he believes what he said, and follow the letter of the law, then you can forget about getting Muslim scholars from around the world to teach at IIU. But can he not? Giving the rector six of the best across his rectum, as a headmaster would a recalcitrant schoolboy, is surely not a good advertisement for foreign scholars to teach in our lands.

The other is extradition. Extradition usually entails third country nations in a second country from which the first want extradited. An interesting example of this is how the Barings trader in Singapore, Mr Nicholas Leeson, was brought to Singapore. Leeson, you may recall, disappeared to London when the scandal broke. Whilst Singapore pressed its case, Lesson left the United Kingdom for Germany, where Singapore eventually brought extradition proceedings. If it was in the UK, Singapore would not have had to go through the involved proceedings she did in Germany. All Singapore had to do, as a Commonwealth country, was to provide a prima facie case, and Mr Leeson could be extradited. In Germany, Singapore had to convince the court of the enormity of his crime and why he needed to be brought to Singapore for trial. He was, spent time in jail, and expelled.

It does not matter, in the Bilal case, if there is an extradition agreement. The government could hand him over it is satisfied that the US demand is correct in its law and if he was a Malaysian citizen would be treated here as would the US if he is eventually convicted. Mr Bilal walks on thin ground. While the newspapers evoke a studious, quiet and hardworking student, the little information about him in the newspapers suggest otherwise. He did not check into the room allotted to him at the IIU campus. No one bothered to inquire why. He was squatting with colleagues and friends in their rooms.

The inference is that he was not studying, but establishing links with whomesoever he is linked to. There must be a perfectly valid explanation for what he did, but if he does not tell his tale to the court, he is in for a six. His applies for political asylum after he surrenders and is arrested. If he had applied for political asylum before his arrest, he could have expected more sympathy from the Malaysians, without Kuala Lumpur having to explained themselves for what they did.

In the end, the Malaysian government is caught in an act of its own making. It cannot be seen to be bending to Washington's dictates to return a Muslim. Not when Malaysia is a year away from hosting the next conference of the Organisation of Islamic states. Nor can she ignore the pressure from Washington that he be handed over posthaste. Nor can Malaysia afford to cane the rector of the IIU and then expect to well regarded by the Muslim countries. Nor can she not, if Dato' Abdullah Ahmad Badawi insists Mr Bilal is here illegally, without Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines not reacting to this selective treatment of illegal immigrants.

What should have been a straight forward case decided on recognised principles of international law is mired in confusion, fright and fear -- and whatever she decides, she loses. The Bilal problem could not have come at a worse time. A Petronas-chartered French-owned oil tanker exploded and caught fire when a boat, said to be laden with explosives, rammed it off the coast of Yemen. No one knows who did it, but the most widely held view is that it was yet another response to the United States war on terror. If it is, Malaysia is dragged into it far more deeply than she believes it is.

M.G.G. Pillai
pillai@mgg.pc.my