The Malaysian police are preparing to reissue a 'Red Notice' to the Interpol in France to facilitate investigations in the detention and extradition of Sarawak Report founder and editor, Clare Rewcastle-Brown.

Inspector-General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar said the police were in the midst of completing the application to enable the long arm of the law to investigate defamatory reports filed by Rewcastle Brown.

"When completed with an explanation against her, we will appeal again to Interpol to put her on the 'Red Alert' list," he told reporters after attending the International Maritime Bureau Meeting in Kuala Lumpur today.

On Aug 4, the police obtained a warrant of arrest from a Kuala Lumpur court against the British woman to assist investigations under Section 124B of the Penal Code, on activities detrimental to Parliamentary democracy and 124I of the Penal Code for producing false reports.

The 'Red Notice' is a notice distributed to all Interpol members to find and arrest individuals wanted by a certain court or international tribunal for extradition.

Streamline investigations

In another development, Khalid said statements of Swiss national, Xavier Andre Justo would be the basis to enable the police to conduct investigations on several individuals involved in a plot to topple the government.

"Presently, we are still awaiting a response from the Thai authorities [...] as I have mentioned, the application made through mutual legal assistance is required to go through the standard operating procedure of the Thai Foreign Ministry [...] so, we have to wait.

"We need to streamline investigations and it is important for us to record Justo's statement first," he added.

Earlier, the police opened an investigation paper under the Penal Code to investigate attempts to topple the Malaysian Government, following an exposure by Justo, a former Petro Saudi International Ltd executive.

- Bernama