PUTRAJAYA, 15 Sept 2009: Five more Internal Security Act (ISA) detainees, all members of Jemaah Islamiah Malaysia, were released this afternoon, Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein said today. They were Abdullah Daud, Mat Sah Mohd Satray, Ahmad Kamil Md Hanapiah, Mohd Nasir Ismail @ Hassan, and Muhammad Amir Md Hanapiah.
Hishammuddin said with the release, there were now nine people still under detention, comprising four Malaysian nationals. The rest were foreigners from Bangladesh, Pakistan, Thailand, Singapore and Indonesia.
“Their release today was to give them an opportunity to celebrate Aidilfitri with their respective families and has nothing to do with the by-election for the Bagan Pinang state seat,” he told reporters.
Furthermore, Hishammuddin said the five were released because they had shown positive response to rehabilitation during their detention and were no longer considered a threat to national security.
Earlier, Hishammuddin had a meeting with representatives of the Malaysian Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) and the Syarie and Muslim Lawyers Association on the amendments to the ISA.
On the meeting, Hishammuddin said he was satisfied as the feedback received from parties concerned was not based on emotion but was instead concrete and rational and appreciated the threats faced by the government.
“But they want to see efforts taken at improving the mechanism so that the act is not abused, or seen to be having the potential for being abused,” he said.
Among others, the discussion touched on the transparency of the ISA, the duration of detention, and treatment accorded to the detainees. — Bernama
