Police have confirmed the arrest, made under the Penal Code for obstructing a public servant in discharge of a public function.
The reporter, Linton Besser, is a member of the weekly Four Corners current affairs programme of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
He had attended a press conference in Kuala Lumpur yesterday by A Sentamil Selvi, whose late husband P Balasubramaniam was the private investigator in the Altantuya Shaariibuu murder case.
He was reported to have gone to Kuching later to catch up with the prime minister, who is on an official visit to the state.
ABC said the crew were detained in Kuching while reporting on “a local political issue”, while the programme’s executive producer, Sally Neighbour, was reported to have said Besser had been trying to question Najib about “a corruption scandal”.
He was taking part in a walkabout in Kampung Haji Baki when Besser tried to ask questions about the “political donation” of RM2.6 billion deposited in his private accounts in 2013.
Najib did not respond and the prime minister’s security pushed the crew aside, according to Malaysian Insider.
Police picked up the crew, which included a local assistant, Edgar Ong, when they returned to their hotel.
Sarawak CID chief Dev Kumar said the two men had crossed a security cordon in trying to interview Najib. A report lodged against them by a member of the prime minister’s security unit described them as being “aggressive”, according to a news report.
Dev Kumar said in a statement that “the incident occurred at about 8.35 pm. Both of them were subsequently arrested for failing to comply with police instructions not to cross the security line.”
They were released on police bail this morning being held for six hours to have their statements recorded.
The police action is under Section 186 of the Penal Code for obstructing a public servant in the discharge of his duties.