KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 19 – Home Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi sidestepped a question on Monday which it had been posed in Parliament by a member of his own party, about allegations claiming abuse of the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 (Sosma).
Ahmad Zahid merely repeated well-known facts on Sosma in his parliamentarian reply to Datuk Shamsul Anuar Nasarah (BN-Lenggong), who had pointed out that the recent arrests of several individuals, including former Batu Kawan Umno deputy chief Datuk Khairuddin Abu Hassan, were tainted with allegations of abuse and injustice.
He said Sosma is a procedural law which provides for appropriate measures to be taken in cases involving security offences
which it was also a law that requires for special measures to be taken against offences against the country. Ahmad Zahid also replying to another terrorism-related question also posed by Shamsul which Ahmad Zahid gave his assurance that the nation’s security level was still satisfactory and threats from both inside and outside the country were still on a controlled level.
He also refuted allegations of Malaysia being a safe haven for international terrorists. In additional, he also said that Shamsul statement cannot be confirmed. Based on the police’s surveillance, he said Malaysia is just a transit for these terrorists to move to a third country.
To admitting that there was a worrying number of Malaysians involved in terrorism related activities, the BN-Bagan Datoh MP pointed out that to date which there was 132 people had been arrested under the Prevention of Crime Act 1959 (POCA) for various suspected terrorism activities.
“This all need to thanks to successful cooperation between the nation’s police and international intelligence agencies. So far, 123 people were arrested for involvement with IS (Islamic State). Out of this, 22 have had actions taken against them under POCA, 38 freed, 48 currently being charged, 14 evicted from the country and 1 more is under investigation. However, I don’t plan on revealing the detailed information as police investigations are still ongoing,” said BN-Bagan Datoh MP.
Meanwhile, Ahmad Zahid also said that the steps to be taken to curb the spread of IS ideologies in the country which were included an early screening procedures on all tourists entering into the country under the Advanced Passenger Screening System (APSS).
