Malaysian authorities issue arrest warrant for Sarawak Report founder

Malaysia’s Criminal Investigations Department (CID) has issued a warrant for arrest against Sarawak Report editor and founder Clare Rewcastle-Brown, a UK citizen, The Malaysian Insider reported.CID said it was seeking Interpol's assistance to detain Rewcastle-Brown as she is currently based in the UK.In an interview with Channel NewsAsia (CNA), Rewcastle-Brown said that it was counterproductive to issue such warrants given her current domicile. She said, "There is maybe an illusion that there is a free media in Malaysia. There is not a free media in Malaysia.”"The rest of the international community is going to ask what is it that I’ve done that is detrimental to democracy, that’s the charge I’m facing," she told CNA.In a statement posted on Sarawak Report's site, Rewcastle-Brown said: "I am merely an investigative journalist who has been doing my job, by unravelling one hell of an international scandal involving people in high places and the grand larceny of public monies."The warrant of arrest issued today comes just over a week after Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said that the government might seek her extradition from the UK, The Malaysian Insider reported.According to the article, Rewcastle-Brown is to be investigated under Section 124B of the Penal Code for activities detrimental to parliamentary democracy, a law that has been widely used in recent crackdown and arrests of activists.Sarawak Report's website was blocked by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) on 19 July, but is still accessible from overseas.