PUTRAJAYA: An investigation into the Johor Immigration Department's detention of a Singaporean woman for seven days is underway.
"I called for an investigation to be started last Friday and my deputy will oversee it," Immigration Department director-general Datuk Ruslin Jusoh told a press conference today (Sept 9).
"The investigation has been initiated to identify what actually happened there," he said at the Immigration Department headquarters.
When asked why the woman was detained for six days, Ruslin only said they would wait for the investigation to be completed.
Ruslin said he received a preliminary report that the woman was detained for failing to comply with immigration rules on entering the country.
He also said the investigation will confirm if the personnel on duty followed the department's standard operating procedures.
"We will look at it from all angles to ensure all parties are treated fairly.
"We welcome visitors to Malaysia. At the same time, those entering must comply with the rules," he said, adding the matter would be "resolved as soon as possible".
Yesterday, Johor Works, said Transportation, Infrastructure, and Communication committee chairman Mohamad Fazli Mohamad Salleh said the Singaporean woman was detained after she argued with an Immigration officer.
She is also alleged to have disobeyed instructions and used offensive language.
It was previously reported that closed-circuit television footage showed the woman arguing with an Immigration officer at a counter on Aug 7.
According to reports, the woman, Atalia Chua, claimed the incident happened after her biometric scan failed twice.
This led her to approach an immigration officer at one of the counters at the complex. Chua, however, was informed by the officer that the counter was closed.
Chua, in the report, claimed that the officer became upset, and the argument escalated after she questioned how another person had been able to use the same counter.
The officer, she said, allegedly became aggressive after Chua recorded the incident.