The SunKUALA LUMPUR (May 5, 2009) : The Home Ministry will not bow to what it termed as a "threat" by ISA detainee M. Manoharan who announced that he may relinguish his post as Kota Alam Shah assemblyman as he is unable serve his constituents in detention.
Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishamuddin Hussein said Manoharan was being held under the Internal Security Act (ISA) for security reasons and the government would not consider his release based on the assemblyman’s wish to resign.
Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishamuddin Hussein said Manoharan was being held under the Internal Security Act (ISA) for security reasons and the government would not consider his release based on the assemblyman’s wish to resign.
"There appears to be an unhealthy trend of by-elections occurring of late and this is a waste of taxpayers’ money. Each time there is a by-election, it costs the government about RM20 million.
"If such a trend continues till the next general election, then we will become bankrupt," he told reporters today at the Civil Defence headquarters on Jalan Padang Tembak where he made his maiden official visit as home minister.
On the review of the ISA and the suggestion to refer to it as the Anti-Terrorism Act, Hishamuddin said it was timely to revamp the Act according to the current era.
"The time has come to review the ISA as objectives have changed but this does not mean there are no longer threats. To me, it’s not the name (the Act), it is the content (that matters). I am gathering all the best legal minds from all relevant agencies to carry out this review," he said.
He declined to go into details of the review but said the most important thing was to have it looked at from all aspects.
On another matter, Hishammuddin said it was highly irresponsible of an English daily to publish a report of a German engineer who was attached to automobile manufacturer Daimler-Chrysler in Malaysia and linking him to the Al Qaeda and transfering funds from here to several terrorist groups, including the Jemaah Islamiah and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
He said although the 31-year-old man had been arrested by German police, it was wrong for the newspaper to link his presence here with his detention there. The man’s arrest in Germany followed an intelligence report by the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).
He said a probe by the authorities here, including Bank Negara, who have monitored the man since March last year, showed that he was neither involved in terrorist activities or tranferred funds to the said groups during his presence here.
"Those who write such news reports should be responsible when getting their facts from reliable sources as this involves the security of the country and the ties between Malaysia and another country," he added.
"If such a trend continues till the next general election, then we will become bankrupt," he told reporters today at the Civil Defence headquarters on Jalan Padang Tembak where he made his maiden official visit as home minister.
On the review of the ISA and the suggestion to refer to it as the Anti-Terrorism Act, Hishamuddin said it was timely to revamp the Act according to the current era.
"The time has come to review the ISA as objectives have changed but this does not mean there are no longer threats. To me, it’s not the name (the Act), it is the content (that matters). I am gathering all the best legal minds from all relevant agencies to carry out this review," he said.
He declined to go into details of the review but said the most important thing was to have it looked at from all aspects.
On another matter, Hishammuddin said it was highly irresponsible of an English daily to publish a report of a German engineer who was attached to automobile manufacturer Daimler-Chrysler in Malaysia and linking him to the Al Qaeda and transfering funds from here to several terrorist groups, including the Jemaah Islamiah and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
He said although the 31-year-old man had been arrested by German police, it was wrong for the newspaper to link his presence here with his detention there. The man’s arrest in Germany followed an intelligence report by the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).
He said a probe by the authorities here, including Bank Negara, who have monitored the man since March last year, showed that he was neither involved in terrorist activities or tranferred funds to the said groups during his presence here.
"Those who write such news reports should be responsible when getting their facts from reliable sources as this involves the security of the country and the ties between Malaysia and another country," he added.
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