Malaysian authorities should drop charges against a journalist who aired allegations of corruption involving the country’s prime minister, the International Press Institute (IPI) said today following news that an arrest warrant has been issued for Sarawak Report founder Clare Rewcastle Brown.

The head of Malaysia’s Criminal Investigation Department, Datuk Seri Mohmad Salleh, said in a statement reported by local media that Rewcastle Brown would be investigated under penal code sections pertaining to disseminating false reports that are likely to cause public alarm and committing actions “detrimental to parliamentary democracy”.

The former charge carries a penalty of up to five years behind bars; the latter could carry an up-to-20-year prison sentence.

Authorities accuse Rewcastle Brown of relying on false information and tampering with documents in connection with claims published in early June on the Sarawak Report that the equivalent of €600 million had been transferred from state development fund 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) to Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak’s private bank accounts.

Following the June report, the Sarawak Report was blocked in Malaysia and two other newspapers were prevented from publishing. The article and a similar report published in the Wall Street Journal led to an investigation. However, Najib replaced the probe’s leaders, and investigators cleared Najib of wrongdoing earlier this week, saying that the funds in his account came from private donors, not 1MDB.

“The irony in Malaysian authorities’ arguments – that airing allegations of wrongdoing by top elected officials is detrimental to democracy, and that protecting democracy requires stifling news coverage – is stunning,” IPI Director of Advocacy and Communications Steven M. Ellis said.

“Democracy cannot function if public officials aren’t subject to scrutiny, and if voters don’t receive the information they need to examine allegations of wrongdoing by elected leaders and hold them accountable. We urge Malaysian authorities to drop this case immediately.”

The arrest warrant, issued by a court in Kuala Lumpur, is not enforceable outside of Malaysia, but the head of the Criminal Investigation Department said that police will ask Interpol and Aseanapol for help in arresting Rewcastle Brown.

Lawyers for the journalist, who is currently in the United Kingdom, told the Malaysian Insider that she is unlikely to go to Malaysia soon. They also predicted that UK authorities would not assist in her arrest because the charges she faces are not crimes in that country.