KUALA LUMPUR - Malaysian Member of Parliament Nurul Izzah Anwar will be released on Tuesday after her statement is recorded over remarks she made at a rally earlier this month, police said.

Inspector-General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar said the PKR vice-president had been arrested under the Sedition Act for her remarks at the rally, and not for a speech made in Parliament, Malaysian Insider reported.

The Lembah Pantai MP was arrested "to assist the police into the investigation of the Kita Lawan rally and for making contemptuous remarks that those in the judiciary system had sold their souls to the devil.

"She will be released once her statement has been recorded," he said in a two-paragraph statement posted on the police Facebook page.

Kita Lawan (We will fight) is a coalition that has been holding rallies and events to ramp up support for opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, who is serving a five-year sentence after the Federal Court upheld his second sodomy conviction on Feb 10.

Ms Nurul Izzah, 34, is a two-term lawmaker and the eldest daughter of Mr Anwar. She was arrested on Monday afternoon when she went to the police station to have her statement recorded. The mother-of-two was held at a police lock-up where more than 300 people gathered against detention.

It was also criticised by many, with the United States saying yesterday it was "deeply concerned" with the development, AFP reported.

Ms Nurul was the latest to be rounded up in a sedition crackdown by Malaysia's government that has seen dozens investigated, charged or convicted over the past year, including several top opposition politicians.