Religious preacher Mohamad Iqbal A Rahman today filed a leave application for an order of certiorari, seeking to quash declarations that he is unfit to stay in Malaysia.

The suspected terrorist who obtained permanent resident (PR) status in 1985, made the application with his wife Fatimah Zahrah Abdul Aziz. They named the home minister, immigration director-general and the Malaysian government as respondents.

The application was filed by his lawyer Amer Hamzah Arshad at the Kuala Lumpur High Court (appellate and special powers division) this morning.

The application challenges the home minister's decision to classify Iqbal under the category of people "whose entry is unwanted". His presence in this country is prohibited under section 8(3)(k) of the Immigration Act 1959.

It also seeks to quash the declaration made by the immigration director-general that Iqbal's presence from Aug 18 onwards was against the law. This resulted to the revocation of his PR status.

Iqbal, 46, an Indonesian national who became a Malaysian permanent resident in 1985, was among the first batch of suspected Kumpulan Mujahidin Malaysia (KMM) members detained in August 2001 under the Internal Security Act (ISA).

On Aug 22, Iqbal was released from detention but was immediately nabbed by immigration authorities. He is currently in their custody, pending the outcome of his appeal against the revocation of his PR status

His written appeal to the immigration director-general has yet to receive any response.

'Defence denied'

His application was supported by Fatimah's affidavit in which the housewife denied the allegations that her husband was involved in activities that threatened the country's security.

"I stress here that my husband is only a religious teacher and he has only preached to spread the teachings of Islam and propagate good will among the community," she said, adding that this is allowed by the constitution.

She described the allegations about her husband's involvement in terrorism as a "manifest fraud" on the part of the Home Ministry, saying the allegations were baseless and made in bad faith.

Fatimah also said that she was led to believe that the immigration director-general had not addressed his mind properly to the issues when he revoked Iqbal's PR.

She claimed that the two respondents had acted out of their jurisdiction when they denied Iqbal the opportunity to defend himself against the allegations before the order of revocation was issued.

She alleged that her husband's constitutional right had been abused as he remains under detention at the immigration lock-up in Damansara Town Centre, even though he has been freed from the ISA detention order since Aug 18.

"I believe that his detention under the immigration laws is a replacement of ISA detention simply because they have no basis to detain him," she said.

She further said the respondents had erred in law when they failed to consider the effects of "such unfair decisions on our family and (nine) children, (eight of whom are Malaysians) and, also to Iqbal's second wife Titi Lulu Kadarigi and their three children".

" It is clear that the two (respondents) have breached Articles 3 and 9 of the Conventions of the Rights of the Child," she said.

Fatimah expressed frustration over the continued detention which has severely limited her communication with her husband. To date, she has only been allowed to visit him infrequently and for only up to 15 minutes each time.