KUALA LUMPUR — Malaysia police have requested the cooperation of Interpol to locate and arrest sex blogger Alvin Tan and activist Ali Abd Jalil, The Star Online reported today (Oct 28). The two recently sought asylum in the United States and Sweden respectively, The Star Online reported today (Oct 28).

According to the news portal, Malaysia’s Inspector General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar wrote an official request to the international police organisation for help.

“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, earlier sought political asylum in the US, which came to light after he announced it on his Facebook page.

Tan and his former partner, Vivian Lee, are facing criminal charges under the Sedition Act as well as the Film Censorship Act for their controversial online uploads, including a photo deemed insulting to Islam, posted during the fasting month of Ramadan.

The couple, who came to be known as “Alvivi”, are jointly accused of uploading a photo of them eating the pork dish, bak kut teh, with the caption “Selamat berbuka puasa” (Happy breaking fast).

They were given temporary possession of their passports on May 18, but only Lee showed up on June 3 to return it.

The Sessions Court has issued a warrant of arrest for Tan and forfeited his RM20,000 (S$7,778) bail after he failed to return his passport on Aug 22.

Ali faces three sedition charges for allegedly insulting the Johor royalty and the Sultan of Selangor in his Facebook postings. He was accused of posting seditious remarks on a Facebook page called “Kapitalis Bangsat” that allegedly belittled the Johor sultanate.

He was first detained on Sept 8 and was taken into police custody in Kuala Lumpur, Selangor and Johor.

On Sept 23, he was released after posting bail of RM8,000 at the Shah Alam court complex. His freedom was short-lived as he was re-arrested and taken to Johor, reportedly because other police reports had been lodged against him there.

Last Saturday, Ali announced that he had fled to Sweden to seek asylum abroad, saying he was not safe in Malaysia as he had been threatened by gangsters and “racist Malay groups”. THE MALAYSIAN INSIDER, THE MALAY MAIL ONLINE