In the morning on July 20, Malaysian immigration authorities detained prominent Bangladeshi activist Adilur Rahman Khan for 16 hours without an explanation after he arrived at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport. Khan is the Founder and Secretary of Odhikar, a civil society organization that monitors human rights abuses in Bangladesh and local member of International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH).

Eventually, authorities denied Khan entry and forced him to return to Bangladesh, preventing him from attending the “Abolition of the Death Penalty in Malaysia and in Asia-Pacific” conference. Since Khan’s deportation, Debbie Stothard, Secretary General of FIDH, urged the international community to speak out in solidarity against the Malaysian government’s habit of denying international activists entry into the country because of their human rights work.

Antoine Bernard is the CEO of FIDH and a member of the World Movement for Democracy Steering Committee.