PETALING JAYA: Former Free Malaysia Today (FMT) journalist Rex Tan was arrested at about 12.45am after being summoned to the Dang Wangi district police headquarters.
The arrest was confirmed by his lawyer, Rajsurian Pillai, who said Tan was detained under Section 4(1) of the Sedition Act 1948 and Section 505(c) of the Penal Code.
The arrest followed a sensitive question alleged to contain racial elements that was raised during a public lecture in Kuala Lumpur.
Rajsurian added that the case is being investigated by a team from Bukit Aman.
On Friday (Jan 16), media reports said Tan had resigned from FMT, a day after he apologised on Thursday (Jan 15) over the question he posed during the lecture, which sparked controversy.
The Malaysian Media Council later condemned the doxxing, harassment and intimidation of journalists following the backlash against Tan.
The incident stemmed from a public lecture titled "Gaza Exposes the Complicity of International Actors" held on Jan 12, featuring British politician George Galloway, where the reporter posed a question that later drew widespread criticism online.
FMT subsequently issued an apology, stating that it had no prior knowledge of the journalist’s intention to raise the question and had not approved his comments.
It added that disciplinary action was taken following an internal investigation.
