“Did he really repent? Was that his own statement?”
Those were the first words uttered by Nasir Abas, the former Malaysian leader of outlawed Jemaah Islamiah (JI) militant group, when informed of the recent release of militant Yazid Sufaat (above) from the Simpang Renggam detention facility.
“In my opinion, as long as that speech did not come out of his own mouth, it should be viewed with suspicion.
“Yazid’s release is not really to do with the fact he has repented but because his time in detention is complete, isn’t that right?” Nasir told Malaysiakini via a text interview from Indonesia, where he now lives.
Yazid, 55, a recruiter for al-Qaeda and the only Malaysian linked to the devastating Sept 11, 2001, World Trade Centre attacks in the US, was released following the end of his two-year detention under Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA) and after a review by the Prevention of Terrorism Board.
The authorities have sought to allay concerns with police chief Abdul Hamid Bador assuring that Yazid will be monitored and strict conditions have been imposed on him after his release.
In an earlier interview with Malaysiakini, one of his rehabilitators while in prison, Ahmed El Muhammady, said he agreed with the militant’s release as he felt he had regretted his actions and has had a change of heart.
In response, Nasir, a former militant who led JI until his arrest in 2003 and who himself was rehabilitated, said Yazid should be allowed to speak with the press so they can hear him say for themselves that he has repented.
While he expressed approval for the use of a tracking device on Yazid, he also said the rehabilitation process should not end upon the former’s release from prison.
“If he is wearing a (tracking device), it means he cannot be said to be free, his status is still like a detainee. It would be better if Yazid is given the chance to be interviewed by the media, so his speech that he has repented can be made clear,” he said.
Today, it was reported that Yazid has been placed under house arrest, banned from using the Internet and made to wear a tracking device.
Nasir himself travelled to Afghanistan in the late 80s to train in warfare and even trained Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) militants in the jungles of Mindanao. He now works closely with the Indonesian authorities to de-radicalise militants and serves as a senior consultant for the Division for Applied Social Psychology Research (DASPR).
DASPR was set up by a group of scholars and activists and deal with social policies as well as social conflict, radicalism and discrimination.
DASPR was set up by a group of scholars and activists and deal with social policies as well as social conflict, radicalism and discrimination.
Over the past 16 years, he has succeeded in rehabilitating many militants and told Malaysiakini such repentance is possible.
Many, he said, not only repent and vowed never to repeat the same mistakes but also work in preventing terrorism “until we see them advising their peers who are still stubborn”.
“However, Malaysia’s process (of rehabilitation of militants) can be different, so I cannot judge based on Indonesia’s way,” said Nasir.
‘I noticed he changed his mind’
Malaysiakini, meanwhile, had spoken to Ahmed El Muhammady last month on his evaluation of Yazid.
The academic at the International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) said when the two spoke during the de-radicalisation programme, Yazid had already begun to grow weary of his time in prison and was showing signs of regret.
“I agree for Yazid be released [...] this was because much of his time was spent in prison and not with his family, his children. He did not get to see his children grow, like other parents.
“Secondly, it was the age factor. He is old, 55. He told me ‘I cannot go on. If before, when I was young, my spirit was strong. Now I’m old, I just want to go home',” Ahmed recounted.
Painting a picture of the Yazid he met in prison, Ahmed described him as very talkative and claimed that often times his eagerness to tell his stories to other inmates was mistaken for attempts to recruit them into Al-Qaeda.
“His intention was to tell stories, not to recruit. This is based on my interviews with the other inmates," said Ahmed.
Yazid, a father-of-four who was formerly a medical technician in the Malaysian army, received a seven-year prison term in 2016 from the Kuala Lumpur High Court for withholding information on terrorist activities in 2012.
He was reportedly re-arrested under Pota in December 2017 for allegedly recruiting inmates to join Al-Qaeda during his time in jail.
Even so, like many other prisoners going through rehabilitation, Ahmed said Yazid still held on to certain issues or way of thinking despite not supporting violence, such as “Jihad is compulsory in Islam”.
“But he looked like he wanted to change. In the beginning, he felt man-made laws were taghut (worshipping something other than Allah) and he forbade his children from taking up law.
“Now, he tells me he allows it. One of his children is in law [...] he asked my advice and I told him that this shows his child cares for him. (The child) has taken up law to protect the father,” Ahmed told Malaysiakini.
“It is here, I saw that he (Yazid) has started to change his mind.”
On his approval for the US-trained biochemist to be granted freedom, Ahmed nonetheless explained he suggested his freedom be granted with conditions including continuous monitoring - either with electronic devices or through surveillance - and engagement.
“(Engagement) that must be carried out by certain people. Not just anyone can be sent to rehabilitate him. Yazid will only speak to those he is comfortable with. If we send the wrong person [...] he will sense animosity and it will backfire.”
Yazid’s Kuala Lumpur home was used by senior Al-Qaeda members for meetings, one of which involved discussion on the Sept 11 attack.
He was also alleged to have provided lodgings for two of the plane hijackers and provided working documents for another. He was previously detained under the now-repealed ISA in 2002 and freed in 2008.
In 2000, he was found to have obtained four tonnes of ammonium nitrate, intended for bombing activities in Singapore. - Mkini
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