Rilek1Corner

Tag: malaysians

  • Malaysia Will Not Allow Chin Peng’s Ashes To Be Brought Back To Malaysia

    Malaysia Will Not Allow Chin Peng’s Ashes To Be Brought Back To Malaysia

    MALACCA – The Malaysia government will not allow the ashes of Communist Party of Malaya (CPM) leader Chin Peng to be brought back to Malaysia, said Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi on Sunday.

    “We will not allow his ashes to be brought back as we are sensitive to the feelings of the children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren of the soldiers, policemen and others whose family members were killed or maimed by the brutal CPM insurgents,” Datuk Seri Zahid said at a news conference after launching an event at the Malacca Motorcycle Carnival, The Star reported.

    Chin Peng, whose real name is Ong Boon Hua, led the armed struggle of the Communist Party of Malaya against the colonial British authorities and then the Malayan government after 1957.

    The hostilities ended only in 1989 with a Thailand-brokered peace accord.

    Chin Peng died of cancer in September last year at the age of 88. He had been living in exile in Thailand after the 1989 peace accord, and his attempts to return to his birthplace in Perak had been stymied by the Malaysian courts on the basis that he did not have citizenship papers.

    Malaysian Premier Najib Razak has called him a “terrorist leader” and said that his ashes would not be allowed into the country.

    But a non-governmental organisation, 21st Century Malaysia Friendship Association, recently called for the Malaysian government to respect the Hatyai Peace Accord which allowed Chin Peng’s ashes to be brought back to the country, The Star said.

    The Malaysian Chinese Association, a component party of the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition, had pointed out that the remains of ethnic Malay terrorists like Noordin Mohammad Top were allowed to be buried in their Malaysia hometowns.

    On Sunday Dr Zahid also defended the government’s move to strengthen the 1948 Sedition Act, reported the Star.

    The Act will be amended to include sedition through the Internet, touching on religious sensitivities, and calling for Sabah and Sarawak to leave Malaysia. Dr Zahid was cited as saying the move was necessary to preserve unity and harmony in Malaysia’s multiracial society.

    “The Sedition Act was introduced in 1948 where there was no Internet at the time. Therefore, this Act needs to be amended,” said Dr Zahid. He added that a Bill to amend the Sedition Act is expected to be tabled in Parliament in March next year.

     

    Source: www.straitstimes.com

  • Video Of A Beheading Carried Out By ISIS Militants Aired At UMNO General Assembly

    Video Of A Beheading Carried Out By ISIS Militants Aired At UMNO General Assembly

    KUALA LUMPUR (THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) – Delegates at Malaysia’s Umno general assembly in Kuala Lumpur watched in pin-drop silence as a short video clip of a beheading by Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) militants was aired.

    The clip, lasting about a minute, was shown during the winding-up speech by Umno vice-president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.

    The video showed several men, believed to be ISIS militants, walking with their captives in a desert landscape.

    Several people in the audience were heard gasping as the militants grabbed knives and placed them against the neck of the captives, who were made to kneel in front of them, before the clip abruptly ended.

    Earlier, Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid, who is also Home Minister, said he would be leading the committee to draw up new anti-terrorism laws against such a threat.

    He also said that he did not mind being labelled a hardcore Malay or an Islamic fundamentalist – all in the name of race and religion.

    Despite this, he said his respect towards other religions remained strong and he would never reject those of other races living under the Malaysian sun.

    “It is all right if people perceive me as hardcore because that means I am hardcore for the Malays and if I am known as a fundamentalist, I am so in the name of religion.”

    Umno vice-president Hishammuddin Hussein said the Bar Council was not the country’s sole authority that had the right to speak on legal matters.

    Datuk Seri Hishammuddin, who is the party’s legal bureau chairman, said its newly-formed unit called Bonafide Friends of Umno had engaged legal practitioners and found that many lawyers agreed with the party on issues such as the Sedition Act.

    The Bar has been pressing for the repeal of the Act, calling it draconian.

    “The right to speak on legal matters is not the exclusive right of the Bar Council. It is the right of all Malaysians,” he said.

    Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal said between June 2013 and September this year, the party registered 5,939 new voters, MCA (256), MIC (266) and Gerakan (373).

    “However, this pales in comparison with that of Opposition parties with PAS registering 1,775 new voters, PKR (2,103) and DAP (9,309).

    “The Umno president has ordered me to team up with all coalition components for a national movement to register new voters,” he said.

    Mr Mohd Shafie highlighted a lack of coordination between religious institutions on Islamic affairs, especially on judgments made by the civil and syariah courts.

    “There has to be a stricter enforcement, which would not allow any party to take advantage.

    “For instance, the National Fatwa Council and state religious councils should work together,” he said.

    He referred to verses in the Quran, which called on Muslims to uphold their faith while at the same time respect other religions.

     

    Source: www.straitstimes.com

  • Activists Dismay At Preservation of Sedition Act 1948 In Malaysia

    Activists Dismay At Preservation of Sedition Act 1948 In Malaysia

    Tasked to draft a replacement to the Sedition Act 1948, two members of the National Unity Consultative Council (NUCC) today expressed surprise and dismay over Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s shock announcement that the controversial law will stay.

    Noting that the announcement was made during the on-going Umno General Assembly today, NUCC member Dr Mujahid Yusof Rawa also questioned the intent in breaking the pledge that has been made thrice publicly.

    “I think this is, unfortunately, just to please the Umno delegates who are now having their yearly meeting,” the Parit Buntar MP said.

    “If the intention was to please them, that is most unfortunate, because we are looking at the issue of Sedition Act from a substantive point, because standard of proof for this act is very low and does not address racial and religious incitement.”

    The NUCC has been pushing for the law to be eliminated, contending that its ambit is too broad as it criminalises speech with an undefined “seditious tendency” and without need to prove intent.

    Sharing his dismay was social activist Datin Paduka Marina Mahathir, who expressed surprise that the Act will not be replaced by the National Harmony Bills proposed by the NUCC.

    As part of his administration’s raft of reforms, Najib had in 2012 pledged to do away with the Sedition Act and replace it with laws on national harmony. This was repeated twice more, most recently on September 5.

    The NUCC was formed November 30 last year to establish a National Unity Blueprint and was tasked with, among others, to propose new legislation to replace the Sedition Act.

    It later proposed three draft bills to replace the Sedition Act: The Racial, Religious and Hate Crimes bill, which outlaws hate speech; the National Harmony and Reconciliation Bill, which prohibits discrimination; and the National Harmony and Reconciliation Commission Bill, which details the functions of the commission that will inquire into complaints of discrimination.

    Confusion over the drafts led to vicious attacks against the NUCC and the Bar Council that was roped in to help prepare the legislation, forcing Putrajaya to repeatedly deny that the proposals were the intended replacements for the Sedition Act.

    Putrajaya later also began to convey that the repeal of the Act was not certain, hinting that it may be retained if the replacements are inferior.

    At the 65th Umno General Assembly today, Najib removed all doubts when he declared that the Sedition Act 1948 will remain, after consultation with party leaders, NGOs and grassroots members.

    He also announced that the Act will be strengthened with two extra provisions: One prohibiting insults against all religions, and the other prohibiting talks of Sabah and Sarawak seceding from Malaysia.

    “I assumed he had thought long and hard before he said he would abolish it, and I’m hoping he gave the same amount of thought to this reversal of that decision,” Marina told Malay Mail Online.

    “As with all laws, they mean nothing no matter what amendments are made if implementation is poor and prosecution is selective.”

    Today, Mujahid also wondered aloud about the prime minister’s given reasons for the retention of the criticised law, pointing out that the Federal Constitution contains clear provisions protecting the Malays, Islam and the Malay rulers.

    The PAS lawmaker criticised the possibility that the decision was made solely to convince Umno delegates at the convention of the party’s commitment to protect the Malay agenda.

    “This is the wrong perception,” said the PAS MP. “The whole idea is, Umno is afraid of its own shadow and now they are trying to drag the whole country because they feel threatened and not the people, Islam or the Malay rulers.”

    Up until the announcement today, Putrajaya has repeatedly insisted it will repeal the Sedition Act and sought to justify an accelerated use of the law against opposition politicians, activists, academics and even a journalist.

    Defenders of the Sedition Act, primarily pro-establishment conservatives including former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, contend that its removal will open the floodgates of attacks against the Bumiputera, Islam, and the Malay rulers in the absence of another pre-independence law that has since been repealed, the Internal Security Act.

     

    Source: http://www.themalaymailonline.com

  • 3 More Malaysians Arrested For Link to ISIS

    3 More Malaysians Arrested For Link to ISIS

    KUALA LUMPUR — A man and two women were picked up by police last night (Nov 21) for allegedly being involved in terrorism, said Malaysia’s national police chief Khalid Abu Bakar.

    The inspector-general of police said the arrests were made in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor by the force’s counter-terrorism division.

    Mr Khalid, in a statement, said the three suspects aged between 28 and 34 were believed to be linked with the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. (Isis).

    “The first suspect, a woman, is the wife of an earlier suspected terrorist charged in court on November 11,” Mr Khalid said.

    The second suspect was an event manager in Kuala Lumpur, while the male suspect was an executive assistant.

    “All three suspects are believed to have been involved witth ISIS via Facebook,” he said.

    Mr Khalid said the three were also found to have been involved in gathering funds, which was used to send Malaysians to join Isis in Syria.

    “All three have been arrested to facilitate investigations under the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012,” Mr Khalid said.

    Yesterday, a third Malaysian was charged at the Sepang Sessions Court with supporting the ISIS terrorist group.

    Mohamad Fauzee Ahmad allegedly entered Syria between June 29 and Sep 18 to lend support to terror activities involving firearms and explosives.

    The 43-year-old was reportedly seen as advancing a religious struggle in Syria.

    If convicted, he could be sentenced to up to 30 years in jail, or face a fine and forfeiture of assets used in the commission of the offences under Section 130J(1)(b) of the Penal Code.

    Judge Nor Haffizah Mohd Salim reportedly set January 15 for mention. DPP Ishak Mohd Yusoff prosecuted the case.

    Fauzee is the third person to be arrested upon returning from Syria, where ISIS is operating.

    The other two arrested and charged were Muhammad Fauzi Misrak, 32, and Mohammad Na’Im Abd Rashid, 26.

    They were reportedly charged on Nov 11. Fauzi’s case is due for mention on Dec 19 while Na’Im’s case is on Dec 15.

    The duo had allegedly fought for ISIS between Dec 13 last year and July 14.

    They were arrested with 12 others between Oct 15 and Oct 17.

    On Tuesday, The Malaysian Insider reported that at least five ISIS militants had returned to Malaysia, but lack of proof was holding back police from arresting them.

    According to a senior intelligence source, under Sosma, there were a number of boxes which police needed to tick.

    “Getting statements from sources in the Middle East to confirm that a Malaysian citizen was there fighting alongside ISIS forces is insufficient,” the official said.

    “Police must build a strong case before a Malaysian suspect who fought alongside Isis forces in the Middle East can be charged in court here.”

    On Monday, Deputy Home Minister Datuk Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar told Parliament that Malaysian ISIS fighters were returning to spread militant ideology in the country.

    He said police checks showed that those who returned were not driven by disillusionment or the desire to surrender to the Malaysian authorities, but to influence and recruit others.

    “The police are monitoring and they know, those who opted to return are doing so because they want to influence other Malaysians to join their cause, regardless if they are Muslims or not.”

    39 Malaysians have been officially identified as being involved with Isis in Syria, whose aim is to set up an Islamic caliphate in the region.

    The New Straits Times, however, reported that there were 45 Malaysians in Syria and 15 in Iraq.

    It also reported that police may have difficulty in tracing exactly how many have returned as their departure from Malaysia to Syria was not properly tracked.

    Between January and June this year, police arrested 23 people in various parts of Malaysia over alleged links to the terror group.

    The Malaysians fighting alongside Isis forces in the Middle East were influenced to take up the struggle via social media, intelligence sources previously said.

    Some, like former Kedah PAS Youth information chief Lotfi Ariffin who was killed in Syria, had not only posted about his activities with the militants on Facebook, but had issued call-to-action messages, too.

    To date, five Malaysians have been killed in action in Syria. THE MALAYSIAN INSIDER

     

    Source: www.todayonline.com

  • Man Detained In Malaysia For Burning Quran

    Man Detained In Malaysia For Burning Quran

    ALOR SETAR: Police detained a man over the discovery of several torn pages of the Quran believed to have been burned in a container at a food court near a market here, today.

    Kedah acting police chief Zakaria Yusof said the man was arrested at a supermarket in Mergong here, at 3pm yesterday.

    He said the man, whose personal details had not been ascertained, would be referred to the hospital for examination and treatment.

    “According to traders at the market, the man was often seen wandering in the market area and was also always seen burning papers (near a food court),” he said in a statement.

    Several torn pieces of pages from the Quran, which were burned, were found by a trader, after being informed by another individual, who then reported the matter to the police and the Kedah Islamic Religious Department.

    Earlier, at a media conference this evening before the man was apprehended, Zakaria said police suspected the culprit who had burned the Quran could be a deranged man but investigation was still ongoing.

    “It is hoped the public will not distort the issue for fear it will create communal misunderstanding.

    “If it was done with malicious intention we will take action under Section 298A of the Penal Code, for committing an act that could lead to disintegration of harmony and unity, feeling of dissatisfaction, prejudice based on religion, which carries a prison sentence of two to five years,” he said.

    – BERNAMA

     

    Source: www.freemalaysiatoday.com