Aus journalists held for trying to 'aggressively' question Razak

Two Australian journalists were detained overnight and have been barred from leaving Malaysia after they tried to "aggressively" question Prime Minister Najib Razak about a corruption scandal, police said on Sunday.

The pair were detained after they crossed a "security line and aggressively tried to approach the prime minister" who was visiting a mosque in Kuching on Borneo island, according to a police statement.

"Both of them were subsequently arrested for failing to comply with police instructions not to cross the security line," it said. The journalists work for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's Four Corners investigative programme.

"ABC 4Corners team arrested in Malaysia last night after trying to question PM Najib Razak over corruption scandal," the programme's executive producer Sally Neighbour tweeted Sunday.

Reporter Linton Besser and camera operator Louie Eroglu had approached Najib on the street before their arrest, the broadcaster added. The pair were detained on Saturday night, but released on Sunday without charge.


Neighbour said their passports, which were initially seized, had been returned to them but they "can't leave Malaysia". "We will discuss with the Attorney General's Chambers [whether] to charge them," national police chief Khalid Abu Bakar was quoted as saying by Malaysian news agency Bernama.

"Police are responsible for the prime minister's security. So we do not want anything untoward happening to him," he said, adding that the journalists were barred from leaving Sarawak state while investigations were underway.
Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said local and foreign media would not be sanctioned for covering events but "must perform their duties according to the journalism ethics".