Malaysian royal family member is arrested

Police arrested a Malaysian royal family member after he and his friends allegedly crashed the wedding reception of a Brazilian couple and attacked guests with golf clubs and sharp objects, a news report said Tuesday.

About 100 foreigners had checked into a luxury resort on the southern Malaysian island of Rawa over the weekend to attend the Brazilians' wedding ceremony followed by a lavish party, the New Straits Times reported. The guests were from Europe, South America, Australia and Singapore, the report said.

The celebrations were short-lived after a member of the Johor state royal family and his friends crashed the party on Saturday, the Straits Times said. One of the uninvited guests asked a woman for a dance but was turned down, the report said. The Johor royal then "ordered" the foreigners to leave the island resort but they refused, the report said.

A fight broke out and the foreigners were attacked with golf clubs and sharp objects, the Straits Times said without elaborating. Several foreigners were hospitalized with injuries, the report said. Police arrested the royal family member and three other men, the Straits Times said.

The report did not give the names of the alleged attackers or of the wedding party. Johor police chief Johor Police Chief Mohamad Amir Sulaiman confirmed that a member of the Johor royal family was among the four people arrested but declined to give details.

He said initial investigations showed that a misunderstanding occured between the royal family member and the guests which resulted in the brawl. Malaysia has a constitutional monarchy system based on the British model. However, the ceremonial position of king is rotated every five years among nine rulers of the Malay states. Malaysia's royalty lives a public, often lavish lifestyle, but are not immune from the country's laws, AP reports.

A. A.