Sarawak Report editor-in-chief Clare Rewcastle-Brown today claimed Malaysian police have no way to extradite her despite securing an arrest warrant for her in Kuala Lumpur.

She said this was because the 'crime' Malaysian police are accusing her of committing does not exist in the UK and most other countries.

"The 'crime' under which this warrant was obtained does not exist in most countries outside of Malaysia so I can't be extradited under it.  

"It is a shame for Malaysians that (prime minister) Najib (Abdul Razak) is making rather a fool of the country through such actions," she told Malaysiakini .

Bukit Aman today announced that it had obtained a warrant of arrest against Rewcastle-Brown under Section 124B and 124I of the Penal Code.

Section 124B concerns activities detrimental to parliamentary democracy while 124I concerns publishing false statements that may cause public alarm.

 

Rewcastle-Brown ( photo ) said the move would only embarrass Malaysia in the eyes of the international community.

"I am afraid this will confirm Malaysia as a basket case country in the eyes of the world. To most democratic onlookers this 'crime' sounds as Orwellian as it is.  

"It is a contradiction in terms for someone in a democracy to be arrested for speaking out in the name of preserving the democracy.

Naked abuse of power

"Everyone the world over and in Malaysia can see this is naked abuse of power, threats and bullying to try and protect not democracy but Najib," she said.

Rewcastle-Brown, who is based in the UK, also questioned whether it was her who was undermining democracy or Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak.

"Who has undermined democracy - Najib for taking US$700 million (RM2.6 billion) from an anonymous donor to spend on the general election or me for alerting people (including his own deputy) that it happened?" she said.

Sarawak Report has doggedly covered allegations of misappropriation of  state-owned 1MDB funds including claims that RM2.6 billion was deposited into Najib's private bank accounts.

Some of its allegations were based on leaked e-mail communication between PetroSaudi International and 1MDB.

Putrajaya had insisted the information used was 'tampered with' but the whistleblower portal had stood by its reports and challenged critics to sue it to prove their case rather than parroting mere allegations.

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