Yazid’s wife denies terrorist links

The 48-year-old mother of four says that her husband was with her all the time.

AMPANG: Former Internal Security Act detainee Yazid Sufaat’s wife Chomel Mohamad has denied that her husband has contacts with a Malaysian terrorist shot dead in the Philippines as alleged by the police.

Speaking about Yazid’s arrest yesterday, the mother of four said she returned from the market at 11.30am and saw their assistant Mohd Hilmi Ahsin being handcuffed.

“There was a huge crowd at the canteen and I even spotted the arresting officer who arrested my husband previously, Inspector Ravi,” said the 48-year-old mother of four.

“Yazid said the police mentioned someone by the name of Fikrie.

“We were never in contact with Fikrie and my husband doesn’t go anywhere. He only helps me to operate my business from 7.30am to 4pm. I know his activities. We don’t even know who Fikrie is,” she added.

According to The Philippine Star, Mohammad Noor Fikrie Abdul Kahar is a suspected Jemaah Islamiyah bomber who was killed in Davao City in December last year.

Yesterday Yazid, Hilmi and Halimah Hussein were detained under the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 (SOSMA) for promoting terrorism.

Under SOSMA, police could detain anyone for 28 days without trial, and deny access to lawyers during the first 48 hours.

Yazid an ex-ISA detainee was formerly detained in 2001 and released seven years later for alleged involvement in an Indonesian-based terrorist movement called Jemaah Islamiyah since 1993.

Hilmi is Yazid’s worker. Both were detained at the Jalan Duta High Court canteen where Yazid’s wife operated a cafetaria. Halimah was detained in Taman Sutera, Kajang at noon.

National news agency Bernama yesterday reported that the trio were believed to be active members of Jemaah Islamiyah attempted to recruit more than 50 students from institutions of higher learning.

Quoting police sources, the report stated that the recruits were trained in a neighbouring country for specific missions such as suicide missions in Europe.

The sources also believed that there were training grounds within the country.

‘Deeply flawed law’

Meanwhile, Chomel also told the press that after Yazid’s arrest, the police raided their house in Taman Bukit Ampang.

“They were there from 1.30pm to 5.30pm and they took away our religious books, computer modem and handphone,” said Chomel.

She added that she was much more stronger to face “whatever that comes” due to her previous experience when Yazid was detained under ISA.

She also hoped her husband would be charged today.

The trio would be represented by four lawyers – Fadiah Nadwa Fikri, Amer Hamzah Arshad, Farida Mohamad and Afiq M Noor.

In a related development, Amnesty International’s Asia-Pacific deputy director Isabelle Arradon criticised the usage of SOSMA against the trio.

“They are being detained arbitrarily under a deeply flawed law that is not in line with international human rights standards,” she said.

Arradon also urged the authorities to disclose the trio’s whereabouts.