KUALA LUMPUR, 25 June 2009: The government did not extradite Singapore Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) militant leader Mas Selamat Kastari to the island state due to "security reason", Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein said today.
He said Mas Selamat, who was captured in Johor in April this year after escaping from a high security prison in Singapore in February 2008, was arrested under the Internal Security Act (ISA) as he is deemed a threat to the country.
Mas Selamat's ISA detention would ensure that his activities and contacts with other militant groups in Asia could be contained, Hishammuddin said.
"The ministry has sufficient information to arrest him under the ISA," he said in reply to a supplementary question from Datuk Mohd Jidin Sahfee (BN-Setiu) in the Dewan Rakyat today.
"We know his background, the details of his plan, network and contact with militant groups. He is arrested under the ISA as the government finds that he not only poses a threat to the country, but also to the neighbouring countries like Singapore and Indonesia.
"Believe me, from the information that we have gathered, it was a serious plan," Hishammuddin said.
In reply to Mohd Jidin's question on the number of people arrested under the ISA since 2004, Hishammuddin said 29 were arrested for falsifying documents, 17 for forging RM1 coins, 18 for involvement in JI, 17 in Kumpulan Darul Islam, five in Hindraf, one for bringing in illegal immigrants, three for involvement in southern Thailand separatist groups, and seven for international espionage.
Hishammuddin said there were only 12 ISA detainees left, six of them Malaysian. — Bernama
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