Lawyers for Liberty (LFL) co-founder Eric Paulsen was arrested tonight in Brickfields, the Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar said in a tweet, just hours after police confirmed he was being investigated under the Sedition Act. "@PDRMsia baru sahaja menangkap Eric Paulsen di Brickfields. (Police have just arrested Eric Paulsen in Brickfields)," Khalid tweeted at 9.40pm tonight. Shortly after, LFL, through its Twitter account, posted that Paulsen was "just picked up by 20 over police, and headed to Dang Wangi, despite agreement to have investigations trow (tomorrow) at Bk (Bukit) Aman!" Subsequently, LFL tweeted a picture of police at Paulsen's law firm, Daim and Gamany, where his laptop was confiscated by police. Earlier today, it was reported that the IGP had said that Paulsen would be investigated under the Sedition Act 1948, following the uproar over the human rights lawyer's posting on Twitter yesterday criticising the Malaysian Islamic Development Department (Jakim) for spreading extremism via Friday sermons. Bernama also reported that Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin wanted police to take action against Paulsen. "The relevant authorities should investigate Paulsen's statement and appropriate action be taken as many non-Muslims do not understand what Islam really is," Muhyiddin was quoted as saying by the national news agency. Umno Youth today made a report against Paulsen at the Putrajaya district police headquarters. The report was lodged by the movement's Religious Bureau chairman Azmir Yuzaimi Mohd Yunos, who said that police should take stern action against Paulsen as this was not the first time he had made a seditious statement via his Twitter account. "He had many times before this made provocative remarks against Islam but after being criticised, the criticism just died like that. "This time, we want real stern action taken against him so that he does not repeat his misdeed," he said. Meanwhile, Paulsen had also made a police report today after receiving death threats among the backlash from netizens over his tweet on Jakim. He said that he had not meant to insult Islam. "I have never referred to the religion of Islam in my tweet, I only criticise Jakim as an agency under the Prime Minister's Department," he told reporters at the Petaling Jaya police headquarters, after filing the report with his lawyer Latheefa Koya. Paulsen said he was surprised to have been accused of criticising Islam because of the posting. "When I said Friday, I meant it in the general sense," he said, adding that he had been receiving threats via social media, including on Twitter and through the WhatsApp mobile messaging service. Among the threats, he said, included "You should be dead by now" and "Nak kena cincang mamat ni" (This guy is asking to be slashed). Paulsen took down the tweet following the backlash. Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Jamil Khir Baharom, who oversees Jakim, weighed in on the controversy as well. He denied Paulsen's claim, saying that Friday sermons have never encouraged extremism or violence as alleged. On the contrary, Jamil said, the sermon was a requirement in the Friday prayers which was delivered orally and carried educational elements to give advice on religion, to give inspiration and to create consciousness. "It also conveys the national policies and current issues among the Muslims. Can the reminders among the Muslims be construed as extreme?" he said, adding that the allegation linking Jakim with extremism was an irresponsible act which should be viewed seriously. UPDATE 5th February 2015: Human rights lawyer Eric Paulsen was today charged with sedition over his Twitter post which allegedly criticised the Malaysian Islamic Development Department (Jakim) for spreading extremism via Friday sermons. Paulsen, who is executive director of civil society movement Lawyers for Liberty, posted the remark on January 9. He was arrested by police the following night, with Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar tweeting about the lawyer's arrest. Paulsen pleaded not guilty at the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court to the charge under Section 4(1)(c) of the colonial era law. In an immediate reaction, Phil Robertson, Human Rights Watch deputy director for Asia, said there appeared to be no limits to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak's pursuit of critics of his government, given that almost any utterance could be twisted into a violation of the vague terms under the Sedition Act. "By proceeding to charge Eric Paulsen with sedition for a single tweet, the Malaysian government is again demonstrating the depths of its outrageous crackdown on free speech and its willingness to attack human rights activists to try and silence them. "Instead of prosecuting lawyers like him, the government should be asking for their help to bring Malaysia's antiquated laws into line with international human rights standards, starting with dumping the rights-abusing Sedition Act," he said in a statement. Following Paulsen's tweet, Umno Youth made a report against the lawyer at the Putrajaya district police headquarters. Paulsen had also lodged a police report after receiving death threats from netizens over his tweet on Jakim. He said he had not meant to insult Islam. "I have never referred to the religion of Islam in my tweet, I only criticised Jakim as an agency under the Prime Minister's Department," he said. Paulsen also said he was surprised to have been accused of criticising Islam because of the post. Lawyer and Padang Serai MP N. Surendran and Universiti Malaya law professor Dr Azmi Sharom are among several people, including opposition leaders, a journalist, activists and two ulama, who have been hauled up in Putrajaya's sedition dragnet over the last year. Shah Alam MP Khalid Samad (PAS), Seri Delima assemblyman R.S.N. Rayer (DAP), Seputeh MP Teresa Kok (DAP) and Batu MP Tian Chua have also been charged with sedition. Lawyer Gobind Singh (pic. right), representing Paulsen, asked the court to fix a later mention date as the Federal Court is set to hear Azmi's challenge on the constitutionality of the Sedition Act on March 24. Judge Zanol Rashid Hussain allowed the request and fixed April 27 for mention. He also set bail at RM2,000 with one surety. Outside the court, Gobind told reporters that if Azmi succeeded in the Federal Court, the charge against Paulsen could not stand. He added that given the challenge mounted against the Sedition Act, the A-G should have held back from prosecuting more people under the colonial era law. "But he saw it fit to charge Eric. "We will fight the charge to the best of our ability," he said. DPP Wan Shaharuddin Wan Ladin appeared for the prosecution.