The chief executive officer of Malaysiakini, Premesh Chandran, accused the authorities of attempting to intimidate the online newspaper ahead of elections due next year but widely expected later this year.

"We have a tremendous readership. People want information and they know we are going to be a media player during the elections," he said. "I believe this is part of a move to curb freedom of press."

Malaysia's human rights commissioner Professor Hamdan Adnan yesterday said he viewed the action as a violation of press freedom and said "state power should not be abused" to clamp down on Malaysiakini.

Before he gave his police statement, Mr Gan said he would not reveal details of the writer of a letter he posted on the site that sparked the police raid.

Malaysiakini was established in 1999 as an alternative to Malaysia's mainstream newspapers, which are owned by the parties in Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad's ruling coalition. Opposition-operated newspapers have largely been shut down.

Operating online only, the newspaper, which pitches itself as independent, avoided local licensing laws, but Mr Chandran said he always expected to one day fall foul of the Malaysian authorities. Monday's raid, however, was the first police action taken against the organisation in its three-year operation. It was prompted by a complaint from the United Malays National Organisation Youth Wing, alleging a reader's letter published on January 9 was seditious.

Mr Chandran said the letter, which strongly criticised the Government's affirm- ative-action policies towards Malays, did not "spark off any alarm bells in our mind".

"We've run other news columns and letters that I would have thought they would think much more seditious than that," he said.

He said although the computers seized did not have key information – such as a list of the organisation's paying subscribers – he was concerned "authorities may be able to access information" that was sensitive but unrelated to the contentious letter.

Mr Chandran said the police actions on Monday went "overboard" in taking the office's entire bank of computers after staff had explained incoming emails were only accessed on a single computer.

Malaysia's affirmative action policies to the majority Malay population – known as bumiputera – give that community greater access to education, jobs and housing benefits and are resented by Malaysia's ethnic Chinese and Indian minorities.