PKR secretary-general Rafizi Ramli courted arrest by exposing a document classified under the Official Secrets Act, said inspector-general of police Khalid Abu Bakar.

Speaking to Malaysiakini , he said the Pandan lawmaker should have been aware of the repercussions and consequences of his action.

“How can you blame the police? We are just executing what is stated in the law.

“Police reports were lodged against him. Following this, we checked with the relevant authorities to determine if the document was indeed categorised as classified.

“When we confirmed it was an OSA document, we have to take action,” he said.

Furthermore, Khalid said Rafizi himself declared that he was in possession of an OSA document and was planning to expose the contents.

Several quarters also criticised the manner in which the arrest was conducted, with PKR Subang MP R Sivarasa likening it to a Gestapo-style abduction.

Responding to this, the police chief said: “They can say what they like, we abide by our SOP (standard operating procedure) and the law.”

Rafizi was arrested at the Parliament gates this evening under Section 8 of the OSA.

The PKR leader had last month exposed what he claimed is a classified document showing links between the Lembaga Tabung Angkatan Tentera and 1MDB.

In a recent interview with Malaysiakini , Rafizi’s wife also said she was prepared to face her husband being arrested over this issue.

If found guilty, the opposition MP risks facing a maximum seven-year jail term. The mandatory jail sentence is one year.

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