Those held under Pota to wear electronic devices

This is part of the rehabilitation programme and to know their whereabouts says deputy home minister.

KUALA LUMPUR: The home ministry plans to enforce the use of the electronic monitoring device (EMD) on those detained under the Prevention of Terrorism Act, 2002 (Pota).

Deputy home minister Nur Jazlan Mohamed told the Dewan Rakyat the move was part of the rehabilitation programme for suspects involved in violent crime, including the IS militant group or Daesh terrorists.

“There is none yet to date. Nevertheless, we will install EMD so that we will know their whereabouts and can monitor them more closely,” he said today.

He was answering a supplementary question from Zairil Khir Johari (DAP-Bukit Bendera) on the ministry’s monitoring measures to ensure the rehabilitation of IS and Syrian fighters.

Before this, Nur Jazlan proposed that the militant group be no longer referred to as IS but “Daesh” as they did not reflect Islamic values in their actions.

Nur Jazlan, who is also Pulai MP, said 72 Malaysians, including 14 women, were found to have been involved in violent activities in Iraq and Syria.

“Of the total, 51 are still there, 14 have died and seven returned to Malaysia and have been arrested and charged in court,” he said.

He said as of November 18, the seven were arrested under the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 Act (Sosma) for fighting and taking up arms with the Daesh, purportedly in the name of jihad (holy war).

“Two of them have been sentenced under Section 130J(1)(b) of the Penal Code for instigating people to leave Malaysia to join violent activities and the rest are still being tried,” he added.

– BERNAMA