Sarawak Report editor-in-chief Clare Rewcastle Brown, who is wanted by Malaysian police, has been granted protection by the United Kingdom police.
This was after Rewcastle complained of being followed and photographed in London for her investigation into corruption in Malaysia.
According UK newspaper The Independent , Scotland Yard confirmed receiving the complaint from Rewcastle.
“They have put a detail on my house because we have had men sitting in cars, idling. It’s absurd," Rewcastle is quoted by the newspaper as saying.
Last month, Rewcastle ( photo ) said she was followed when meeting with a Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) official.
“I had my back to the big glass window and he kept looking over my shoulder and getting nervous and he (MACC officer) said ‘You do know you are being followed?’” Rewcastle is quoted as saying.
Special task force disbanded
The encounter was subsequently published on Malaysia Today , prompting Rewcastle to accuse Raja Petra Kamaruddin ( photo ) who runs the site, of masterminding the surveillance operation against her.
Malaysia Today revealed the person meeting Clare to be former MACC adviser Rashpal Singh Jeswant Singh, who was subsequently arrested by Malaysian police for "activities detrimental to
parliamentary democracy".
Rewcastle lamented that several other people who had been in contact with her have also been arrested.
“(Almost) everybody who has been in touch with me has been arrested," she is quoted as saying.
Sarawak Report , together with The Wall Street Journal , were among the first media to report claims that RM2.6 billion was deposited into Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's personal bank accounts.
A special task force comprising the police, MACC, Bank Negara and the Attorney-General's Chambers subsequently investigated the matter.
However, last week, attorney-general Abdul Gani Patail ( photo ) was suddenly sacked and his replacement, retired judge Mohamed Ali Apandi, disbanded the special task force.
The MACC had vowed to pursue the investigation on its own but several of its investigators were subsequently arrested by the police.
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