Police have formed a special team to investigate Malaysiakini over the leaks that the news portal received funding from American financier George Soros-linked Open Society Foundation (OSF).
According to Utusan Online, inspector-general of police Khalid Abu Bakar said the team would be led by a federal Criminal Investigations Department deputy director.
Khalid said the five-member police team would collect information and carry out an exhaustive investigation into the matter.
However, the report does not state under which law the matter is being investigated.
Malaysiakini has contacted Khalid on this and is awaiting his response.
Both Malaysiakini chief executive officer Premesh Chandran and editor-in-chief Steven Gan have denied the claim that fund was allocated with the aim of toppling the government.
Premesh and Gan said Malaysiakini is a news organisation which aims to hold those responsible accountable to the public.
A detailed explanation has been provided on this issue, while OSF has also denied that it is motivated by an agenda to topple governments.
Premesh has also clarified that the grant in relation to KiniTV was used to produce the Realiti Sarawak and Sekilas Bumi Kenyalang programmes.
"The grant mentioned was to support KiniTV to produce more news bulletins and stories on Sarawak, which is difficult for Malaysiakini, given the costs associated to cover the large and difficult to access state," he said.
He added that the grant only constituted a small portion of Malaysiakini's revenue, which largely relies on subscription and advertising.
Apart from the police, the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) is also investigating reports lodged on the OSF funding.- Mkini
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