KUALA LUMPUR — American singer songwriter Maggie Lindemann was arrested and detained last month because she did not have the required professional permit to perform on stage here, the Kuala Lumpur Immigration Department director clarified on Friday (July 5).

Mr Hamidi Adam told The Star news portal that the singer was taken in during the department’s raid on a venue in a shopping mall here on June 21 and held only one night at the KL Immigration office.

“She was arrested for not having a professional visit pass at the time of the performance. She was then detained at Jalan Duta for documentation purposes and was released with bail the next day,” he was quoted saying.

It is unknown if the 20-year-old was taken elsewhere and detained for how long as The Star made no mention in its report.

Lindemann claimed to have been locked up for a total of five days on her Instagram and Twitter accounts on Thursday.

Mr Hamidi disclosed that the show organiser has since been charged in court and pled guilty and was subsequently fined RM30,000 (S$9,800).

In her social media posts on Thursday, Lindemann said she was arrested mid-show on June 21 and confined for five days in a “living hell”, as explanation for cancelling her South-east Asian tour to Vietnam and Singapore on June 22 and 24 respectively.

She offered no explanation for the reasons behind her detention. MALAY MAIL