PUTRAJAYA, Sept 3 — Sarawak will allow activists who are currently banned from the state to enter if they are not bigots or extremists, chief minister Tan Sri Adenan Satem said today.

Adenan said Sarawak blocks out extremists and religious fanatics to safeguard the state’s “peaceful society”.

“But if you are prepared to be tempered by moderation, you are prepared to be compromising, why not?” he said at the 16th International Anti-Corruption Conference here.

“Provided they are not religious bigots or extremists in any form,” he told journalists later when asked again if the entry ban on activists would be lifted.

Local activist Cynthia Gabriel, who heads the Centre to Combat Corruption and Cronyism (C4) had asked if his administration would lift Sarawak’s entry ban on several activists, since Adenan expressed today his willingness to host Global Witness and discuss allegations of corruption in the state.

Cynthia noted that the entry ban was imposed by Adenan’s predecessor on several activists, including herself, who were dealing with land grab issues and aiding the Sarawak natives.

Today, Adenan also listed controversial writer Mohd Ridhuan Tee Abdullah and Perkasa president Ibrahim Ali as individuals barred from Sarawak.

“Would you entertain people like Ridhuan Tee, would you entertain people like Ibrahim Ali, we don’t and I hope you don’t too. These are the kind of characters that we prohibit from entering our state,” he told Cynthia.

Chief Minister of Sarawak, Tan Sri Adenan Satem speaks at the International Anti-Corruption Conference in Putrajaya, September 3, 2015. ― Picture by Yusof Mat Isa