Ratu Naga arrested by MACC and not merely 'summoned', says lawyer

PETALING JAYA: Pro-Perikatan Nasional blogger Ratu Naga has been arrested, says her lawyer, instead of just being summoned as the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) claimed.

Earlier Friday (Feb 16), Ratu Naga's husband Ezad Zainal said their house in Old Klang Road was raided at 9.20am, after which she was taken in by MACC investigators.

MACC chief commissioner Tan Sri Azam was quoted as saying in media reports that the graft busters had merely “summoned” Ratu Naga, whose real name is Syarul Ema Rena Abu Samah, to record her statement in aid of investigations under Section 16 of the MACC Act 2009, which deals with bribery.

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Her lawyer Nabila Khairuddin then said, however, it was not true that her client had only been summoned.

"Her house was raided this morning and she was... taken in an MACC car to Putrajaya.

"She has been denied access to her lawyer and her husband," Nabila said in a statement.

"This is clearly an arrest. I am still waiting at the MACC headquarters in Putrajaya to see my client.

"They have refused me access to my client," she stressed.

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According to Ezad, the investigators also took a mobile phone and a laptop.

Syarul Ema was the subject of a police probe in October for social media posts that allegedly defamed Datuk Seri Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, the wife of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

In December, she filed a lawsuit against the government seeking to nullify a provision in the Peaceful Assembly Act 2012 that requires organisers to inform police about gatherings in advance, claiming it was not enforceable.