‘Propaganda expert’ Papagomo denied entry into Sarawak
PETALING JAYA: Controversial blogger Papagomo has become the latest personality to be barred from entering Sarawak.
Papagomo, whose real name is Wan Muhammad Azri Wan Deris, said he was stopped by Immigration Department officials as soon as he landed at Kuching airport on Wednesday afternoon.
He claimed the reason he was barred because he was a “propaganda expert”.
“The officer in charge told me that the instruction to bar my entry came from the state government.
“I asked them why? I am not a politician, I am not an elected representative, I am not a smuggler, I am not a drug dealer.
“Their answer was that I was a propaganda expert,” he wrote on his Facebook page on Tuesday.
A few hours before his flight, the blogger wrote that he was going to Sarawak on a business trip.
Writing in a Sarawakian dialect, Wan Muhammad said he was there five years ago and was looking forward to eating some local dishes.
It is understood that he was flown back on the next flight to Kuala Lumpur.
Wan Azri first rose to fame for his blog called “Papagomo” in which he posted articles against the Opposition, including jailed opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
He was also in the limelight recently for assaulting a foreign worker, whom he claimed had sexually harassed two of his younger sisters and two of their friends.
Wan Azri’s deportation came less than 24 hours after Parti Amanah Negara information chief Khalid Samad was denied entry to the state.
The Shah Alam MP arrived at the Kuching Airport at 7.55pm on Tuesday and took the next flight back to Kuala Lumpur.
Last week, red-shirt rally organiser Datuk Jamal Md Yunos was also barred from entering Sarawak.
The Sungai Besar Umno chief was served a notice refusing him entry by Immigration officers, joining a list of Opposition leaders banned from the state ahead of the May 7 polls.