PETALING JAYA: The journalist arrested by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) for corruption has been remanded for four days.
The remand order, until March 4, was obtained at the Putrajaya Magistrate court on Saturday (March 1).
According to sources, the journalist from Malaysiakini had been suspected of demanding a bribe as payment for taking down an article that had previously been uploaded and for not writing about an agency that brought in foreign workers that was suspected of being a part of a crime syndicate.
“The suspect was caught receiving the bribe on Friday (Feb 28) night around 11.45pm at a hotel in Shah Alam in a sting operation.
“The suspect was arrested for allegedly taking bribes and not for writing a report about undocumented migrants. Preliminary investigations showed that that the suspect had allegedly asked for a bribe of RM100,000 but settled for an initial payment of around RM20,000 after negotiations,” the source said.
MACC chief commissioner Tan Sri Azam Baki confirmed the arrest when contacted, adding that the case was being investigated under Section 16 (a) of the MACC Act 2009. He added that RM20,000 in cash was also seized.
