British Tourist Stuck Here Over RM7 Parking Trouble, Cries Malaysia Inhumane
Ahmed Hadi claimed the machine wouldn’t take his payment despite numerous tries and was arrested a few days later.
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A British tourist, Ahmed Hadi, 47, claimed he was stuck in Malaysia for months for failing to pay a RM7 (£1.27) parking ticket.
Ahmed and his family left the United Kingdom in August and spent three months in Thailand before arriving in Malaysia on 4 December.
On 7 December, they parked their car for 10 minutes in a Penang car park. They intended to go for a meal but stayed for coffee instead after the restaurant they planned to go to was closed.
Ahmed, a London electrician, tried to pay the parking ticket, but the machine wouldn’t accept his cards. He claimed he pressed a button for help and spoke to parking officials for about 10 minutes. However, he claimed the parking officials weren’t able to help him.
Since no one was there to assist him, he lifted the plastic barrier to leave the car park. Despite lifting the barrier gently, the barrier bent.
There was no other way out. It was quite annoying and ridiculous. I was gentle with the barrier, but it just caved in like paper.
Ahmed Hadi told Express UK
On 9 December, the police contacted him and he was ordered to the police station where he was questioned for two hours. He was then arrested and ended up in court the next day before his solicitor reached a deal with the parking firm.
His wife, Lucy, phoned the British consulate and got a lawyer. She had to pay three guarantors to bail him out, totalling around RM12492 (£2,240), and an additional RM5,577 (£1,000) to a solicitor.
He’s still stuck in Malaysia
Eight weeks after the parking incident, he’s still without a passport. He claimed his passport was taken by the court as part of his bail conditions.
The solicitor also met with the car park owner at the beginning of January and the couple paid RM1,004 (£180) to cover the barrier repair costs. Ahmed claimed he had to reappear in court on 17 February for reasons unknown.
The couple initially intended to move to Malaysia but they’re having second thoughts after his poor treatment here.
Due to his experience here, Ahmed claimed Malaysia is inhumane and without human rights, adding that nobody read him his rights when he was arrested. He was also moved to a different cell every day and Lucy had no idea where he was or what was happening.
Meanwhile, Lucy described Malaysia as a police state and claimed the authorities could arrest anyone for anything to make money. She claimed Ahmed was held because they thought he was a rich British Kuwaiti man.
In lockup, Ahmed claimed the situation was horrible, having to share a cell with 50 other men with only one toilet.
One of the police threatened to beat me up. We think Britain is broken but this makes you realise how good we have it. This country is a rip off and you’re not free.
Ahmed Hadi
Ahmed said the whole situation was ridiculous because he fully intended to pay for the parking ticket but wasn’t able to do so.
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