The Edge publisher Ho Kay Tat and The Malaysian Insider (TMI) chief executive Jahabar Sadiq were arrested this morning when they turned up at the Dang Wangi police station for questioning.
The arrest of the duo came hot in the heels of the arrest of three senior T MI editors - Lionel Morais, Amin Shah Iskandar and Zulkifli Sulong - over a report on the Conference of Rulers published by the news portal which is said to be erroneous.
Late yesterday afternoon a team of police and Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) officials raided the TMI office and seized a number of laptops.
@PDRMsia sahkan jam 1100 pagi ini telah tahan 2 org lagi kakitangan TMI utk bantu siasatan. Tiada toleransi kpd sebarang aktiviti menghasut
— Khalid Abu Bakar (@KBAB51) March 31, 2015
According to TMI , the police will be applying for a remand order for five editors later today.
"These arrests appear to go beyond just our reportage about one hudud article," Jahabar told TMI before he was arrested.
" The Malaysian Insider will continue to report without fear or favour despite these arrests. It is business as usual."
The Edge is owner of the TMI news portal.
The five are investigated under Section 4 of the Sedition Act for publishing seditious material and Section 233 of the Communication and Multimedia Act 1998.
If found guilty, they can be fined up to RM5,000 and jailed up to three years or both.
Under Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act, they can be fined up to RM50,000, jailed up to a year or both.
More than 100 politicians and civil society activists have been arrested in this month alone.
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