Malaysian linked to Al-Qaeda freed with tracking device attached to his ankle
Yazid Sufaat, a Malaysian jailed for terror activities and linked to the Al-Qaeda is a free man. But he is under home arrest with a tracking device on his ankle.
Yazid cannot go anywhere outside his house in Ampang, say the police.
The police have also reassured the public that they are taking care of Yazid whom he says has served his sentence.
But Pakatan Harapan MP, Charles Santiago, is not happy. He posted a missive on the release of the ex-terror suspect.
Santiago says Yazid is one of Malaysia’s most well-known terrorists but, “was let go after the Home Ministry was confident that he was sufficiently reformed”.
He recalled how Yazid was detained a few times, lately in 2013 for recruiting Islamic State (IS) members to fight in Syria.
In 2017, he was again released, only to be rearrested shortly afterwards when it was discovered he had been recruiting fellow inmates for al-Qaeda while in jail.
“Today, he is out of prison and under house arrest with a tracking device attached to his ankle. And he can’t wander out of Ampang, without prior permission from the police,” writes Santiago.
Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay, head of the special branch counter-terrorism division, said the decision was made by the Prevention of Terrorism Board and will be detained at home.
Santiago also questions the validity of the release of a ‘terror suspect’ asking whether “A home environment would be much more conducive” to carry out terror recruitment.
He warns that Malaysia could also be added to the terrorist watch list by the US, making travel even more tedious than it already is and not just to America but to Europe as well.
He narrates that Yazid is a Malaysian scientist who tried to help Osama bin Laden develop anthrax for use as a biological weapon.
“He was jailed in 2002 in Kandahar, where he was a leading figure in al-Qaeda’s push to develop weapons of mass destruction.
“Yazid provided lodgings in his home for al-Qaeda operatives who took part in a meeting in Kuala Lumpur, including two Sept 11 hijackers, to discuss future terror plots”.
“Impressive”, you think?, he writes.
The MP from Klang made a comparison between Yazid’s resume against that of the 12 Malaysians who were arrested for alleged links to the now-defunct Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam or the LTTE.
He said the two DAP state assembly persons and the others arrested do not have a curriculum vitae as impressive as Yazid’s.
The 12 were nabbed under Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 (Sosma), and offences under the draconian law are not bailable, said Santiago.
“If Yazid can be released and monitored by the police, what’s stopping them from monitoring a bunch of men who have no biological weapon-making skills, no ties to IS, al-Qaeda or the LTTE for that matter?”
Source: The Independent
