In a statement today, he said he has been flagged with a “travel control order” (TCO), a designation assigned to those deemed a “threat”.

Samsuri claimed the existence of “complete, stealthy and continuous surveillance” of all his movements under the TCO designation.

“Where I go, who I meet and whatever I talk about with any individual are apparently all of interest to certain people and thus need to be reported by a specific branch to the political master or the main operator.

“This is my day-to-day reality, even if I’m only going to Sabah or Sarawak.

“With the advances in technology today, they probably try to pry on conversations I have with certain individuals, especially political leaders,” he said.

Samsuri said his phone is “100%” being tapped, and that he is followed everywhere, even on personal matters.

“How do I know this? You don’t have to be a genius to figure that out. It doesn’t take a trained eye in counter surveillance to be able to spot these watchmen.

“Their operatives are obvious and identifiable through their strangely idling vehicles, the way they communicate with each other and so on,” he said.

Samsuri also claimed that another prominent opposition figure has also been slapped with the TCO designation.

He slammed the “blatant misuse of government resources as a political weapon” as a threat to personal freedom.

“If left to run unchecked, I wouldn’t be surprised to see these very same instruments being used against civilians, NGOs, independent bodies and others who voice opinions contradicting the ruling parties.

“As usual, they will say it is a matter of ‘national security’ and that this is of great importance to the general public when, in truth, it is driven by political purposes,” he said.