Malaysian reporter arrested for sedition after controversial question at Gaza lecture

Former Free Malaysia Today (FMT) journalist Rex Tan was arrested at about 12.45am on Saturday after being summoned to the Dang Wangi district police headquarters in the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur.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.It followed a sensitive question alleged to contain racial elements that was raised during a public lecture in Kuala Lumpur.At the lecture on Monday, titled “Gaza Exposes the Complicity of International Actors” and featuring British politician George Galloway, Tan posed the 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.The Malaysian Media Council later condemned the doxxing, harassment and intimidation of journalists following the backlash against Tan.