Don’t distort facts in student’s arrest, says Sabah CM’s pol-sec

2026-03-17 - 06:23

Azrul Ibrahim said the public must allow the authorities to conduct a professional investigation into the case. PETALING JAYA: The political secretary to the Sabah chief minister has urged the public to stop distorting the facts regarding the arrest of a student at a charity event in Kota Kinabalu. In a Sabah Media report, Azrul Ibrahim said the student’s 2020 vaccination card suggested that the person was about 19 years old, contradicting claims that he was still a minor. He added that allegations linking the student to the Bajau Laut community remained unverified. “The absence of official documents makes the question of identity, ethnicity or nationality a complex matter that can only be determined through an investigation process by the authorities. “Thus, the issue should be seen and dealt with based on facts and legal provisions, not sentiments or narratives built without solid foundations,” he said in a statement today. Mandiri, an NGO, had condemned the arrest of the student, identified as Niko, claiming that he was handcuffed and taken to the Kepayan police headquarters without explanation, despite a teacher’s attempt to clarify the situation. The NGO also said Niko was held in a lock-up without the basic right to contact his family or obtain legal aid, which it said contradicts the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Child Act 2001. Niko’s teacher, Sabir Syarifuddin, told FMT yesterday that the student was stateless and from the Bajau Laut community. He said Niko was a student at Sekolah Alternatif, a school providing free education for marginalised children in Sabah. Azrul also warned against misrepresenting Sabah chief minister Hajiji Noor’s statements on protecting the Bajau Laut community to distort facts about the case. He said the principle of protecting communities did not mean the country’s laws could be set aside. “In any sovereign country, identity documents are a fundamental basis for law enforcement and national security,” he said, adding that such cases were investigated under Section 6(1)(c) of the Immigration Act 1959/63, which allows action against individuals who cannot produce valid identity or travel documents. He urged the public to allow the authorities to investigate the matter professionally, in line with the law.