The Kuala Lumpur High Court today heard opening arguments by lawyers representing terror suspect Mohamad Iqbal A Rahman, who was seeking to quash declarations by the government that he is an "undesirable" immigrant and therefore, should be deported to his native Indonesia.

The hearing came amidst claims by his family members that a deportation order had already been issued by the immigration department to pave the way for his eviction from Malaysia.

Pending confirmation of this development, judicial commissioner Wan Afrah Wan Ibrahim adjourned the case until Wednesday to hear further arguments by the two parties.

She rejected an oral application by the applicant's lawyers for a stay of deportation, saying that the applicant would first have to file a proper application to the court.

Iqbal, a former religious teacher who became a permanent resident here in 1985, was among the first batch of suspected Kumpulan Mujahidin Malaysia members detained in August 2001 under the Internal Security Act.

Days before expiry of the two-year detention order, the 46-year-old Indonesian national was informed that he faced imminent deportation following the revocation of his PR status by immigration authorities.

The Home Ministry, in declaring that Iqbal was an "undesirable immigrant", had said that it had reasons to believe that he had been involved in activities against Malaysia's national interest.

Burden of proof

Lawyer Edward Saw said Iqbal should have been given the opportunity to refute the Home Ministry's charges before his PR status was revoked.

"Under Section 8(4) of the Immigration Act, (it is stated that) the burden of proof is on the person who is deemed 'undesirable' to show otherwise. The Immigration Department director-general failed to allow this," he said during the hearing.

Saw said although Iqbal had been allowed a seven-day period to appeal in writing to the Home Ministry, this right was "illusory" by virtue of the fact that he would be required to appeal to the same party which issued the declaration against him in the first place.

As such, Saw said the court should strike out the declarations by the Home Ministry and the immigration department director-general as the authorities had not adhered to the proper procedural requirements.

In response, Deputy Public Prosecutor Umi Kalthum Abdul Majid contended that the court did not have the powers to review the declarations as Sections 59 and 59(a) of the Immigration Act specifically rule out judicial review of the authorities' decisions.

"The act was passed by Parliament and was duly acknowledged by the Federal Court. It addresses all the issues which the (applicant's lawyers) have raised with respect to the applicant's right to be heard," she said.

Umi also urged the court to strike out Iqbal's application on grounds that the applicant had been allowed an avenue of appeal and that his appeal to the Home Ministry, submitted on Aug 26, was still pending a decision.

Deportation order

Outside the courtroom, Iqbal's wife Fatimah Zaharah Abdul Aziz claimed that a deportation order dated Sept 25 had already been issued against her husband.

Fatimah said her husband had conveyed this when she visited him yesterday at the immigration detention centre in Ajil, Terengganu.

"He said he posted his copy of the deportation order to me last Monday but it has not arrived yet," she said, explaining the lack of documentary evidence to support her assertion.

(It is learnt that several procedures will have to be completed before Iqbal can be deported. This includes verification of his nationality with the Indonesian embassy and further processing of travel documents.)

Fatimah (left) also said Iqbal had been transported out of Kuala Lumpur almost immediately after the publication in malaysiakini of a letter that he wrote while in detention.

"After the letter was published, some of the things that he had were confiscated. The next day, he was asked to pack," she said.

"He was taken there last Monday by three senior immigration department officials. He said that he is being held in solitary confinement in the camp."

In the letter, Iqbal had complained about poor detention conditions at the immigration department headquarters lock-up in Pusat Bandar Damansara, where he was initially detained.

Following publication of the letter, he was whisked away to Terengganu without prior notice to his family members.