KUALA LUMPUR, July 1 — Police have granted bail to former US Navy SEAL Ryan Bates who had been arrested at the KLIA earlier for allegedly carrying empty ammunition magazines, Selangor police chief Comm Datuk Hussein Omar Khan said.
According to The Star news outlet, Hussein said Bates was released following his questioning earlier.
“He will not be allowed to leave the country while investigations are ongoing,” the police official was quoted as saying.
Separately, the US Embassy here said it was aware that one of its nationals had been arrested in Malaysia, but declined to confirm if it was the former US Navy SEAL.
The embassy said the US State Department was providing the appropriate consular assistance that was extended to any of the country’s citizens in a similar situation.
Earlier, Bates’ wife Diana Dahlgren Bates posted videos on social media to seek help for her husband, whom she said had been arrested at the KLIA after he was found with “a magazine in his bag from filming a military television show.”
Bates also posted videos online about the incident, including one of him showing his three ammunition magazines being inspected by six officials in a room.
“They're now figuring out what to do with me...(sigh). I'm never coming back to this country again,” he said.
Bates was reportedly carrying the magazines with him for the filming of a documentary on the special forces in various countries including Malaysia.
The couple’s videos were no longer accessible online.
*An earlier version of this story contained errors which have since been corrected.
