Repeal of ISA in M'sia main reason behind recidivism of radicals
The Malaysian police says the repeal of the country’s controversial Internal Security Act (ISA) is one of the main reasons behind the recidivism of militant and terrorist detainees.
Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay, principal assistant director of the Royal Malaysian Police Counter Terrorism Division, said the other factor behind recidivism was the Syrian conflict.
Ayob, speaking at the East Asia Summit, a symposium on religious rehabilitation and social reintegration, said militants, who had previously been detained under the ISA for involvement in terrorist groups like the Kumpulan Militan Malaysia (KMM) and Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), have been actively involved in recruiting Malaysians to fight for jihad in Syria. Ayob said they justified their actions as an obligation to fight for their Syrian Sunni Muslim brethren. He added that they also assumed the police had no power after the ISA was repealed. Seven men recently arrested for links to the Islamic State also said they believed their involvement in Syria had no detrimental effects on Malaysian security.
Recividism, Ayob said, was a global phenomenon. He added that there had only been seven relapses out of the 239 JI, KMM and Darul Islam militants previously detained under the ISA. However, he cautioned that recidivists played a hugely important role in disseminating Salafi jihadi ideology, facilitating the travel of radicals and coordinating military training.
“Most of the 63 Malaysians currently in Syria were exposed to propaganda spread by Malaysian recidivists in Syria,” he said.
Ayob also said six radicals returning from Syria had been arrested. Four have been charged, while two others are still under investigation.
“Two returnees were recruiting new local members and planning attacks on several targets in Malaysia,” he said.
The threat posed by the IS and returning radicals, he said, has now moved into phase two -- the launching of domestic attacks.
Under existing the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act (SOSMA), there is no provision for rehabilitation programmes. However, the recently passed Prevention of Terrorism Act (Pota) will allow the Malaysian police to reactivate special rehabilitation programmes, which will include not just militants, but also family members of theirs that have been exposed to their ideologies.
Ayob, in earlier interviews with the Malaysian media, had warned that an Islamic State attack in the country was "imminent", as the militants have labeled the country as an apostate nation. He revealed that the militants had wanted to "punish" the country by bombing entertainment spots. The militants had also planned to rob banks to raise funds and to raid armed forces installations and police stations to seize weapons. Malaysia has also been used as a transit point for Chinese nationals headed to Syria to fight for the Islamic State.
