South Australian Senator Nick Xenophon was detained and ordered deported from Malaysia as authorities there labeled him a “security risk” for having been caught up in a Human Rights protest last year.

Xenophon never got past Kuala Lumpur International Airport and was held for at least 16 hours.  The incident effectively scuttles what was supposed to be a low-key mission to make contact with opposition leaders and to determine if Malaysia’s upcoming elections would be free and fair. 

Nick is blasting his detention as “bizarre and extraordinary." 

He continued, "I've been here before [and] I've made statements about the state of Malaysian democracy previously.  But on this occasion clearly someone high up in the Malaysian government doesn't want me here."  Immigration officials at the airport acknowledged they were obeying orders from on high.

Foreign Minister Bob Carr is demanding Malaysia explain itself, adding, "We think it is sad for a friendly country to deport an Australian Member of Parliament, who was up there for peaceful purposes."

Xenophon has long been a critic of Malaysia’s dodgy human rights situation.