KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 28 — The police have requested the cooperation of Interpol to locate and arrest activist Ali Abd Jalil and sex blogger Alvin Tan who recently sought asylum in Sweden and the United States respectively, The Star Online reported today.
According to the news portal, Inspector General of Police (IGP) Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar said Bukit Aman has sent an official request for the application coded “Red Notice” to the international police organisation based in Lyon, France.
“So we have to wait now. We have requested for a ‘Red Notice’ through Interpol,” the country’s top policeman was quoted as saying to reporters in Cheras.
Tan, 26 and a former Asean scholar, has been slapped with several charges for posting sexual and religiously provocative messages online but has jumped bail.
According to The Star Online report, Tan is now believed to be in California.
On September 24, Singapore media agency Channel News Asia reported the blogger as saying he is fleeing from Umno, the main party in the Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition, and had applied for political asylum in the US in May.
Tan and his 25-year-old ex-girlfriend Vivian Lee May Ling face a charge under Section 4(1) (c) of the Sedition Act 1948, for publishing a seditious photo with the words “Selamat Berbuka Puasa” (dengan Bak Kut Teh...wangi, enak, menyelerakan!) [Happy breaking fast with bak kut teh...fragrant, delicious, appetising]” with a halal logo on their Facebook page last July 11.
They are also being tried for a second charge under subsection 5(1) of the Film Censorship Act 2002 for displaying pornographic images on their blog, alviviswingers.tumblr.com, between July 6 and July 7 last year.
Ali, who has been arrested four times for sedition investigations into alleged insults against the royalty, was charged in the Selayang Sessions Court on September 8 with sedition for allegedly insulting the Johor royal house.
The 29-year-old was rearrested after posting bail of RM5,000 and taken to the Shah Alam Sessions Court on the same day and charged with two more counts of sedition for allegedly insulting the Selangor Sultan and for undermining the royal institution.
He was jailed and released on September 23, only to be arrested again and taken to Johor where more charges reportedly await him there.
However, news portal The Rakyat Times reported that Ali left Malaysia on October 18 for Sweden, where he is said to have applied for political asylum.
