PETALING JAYA: One week after being freed from charges under Security Offences (Special Measures Act) 2012, canteen operator Yazid Sufaat has been detained under the same act once again.
Yazid and his assistant Hilmi Hashim were re-arrested under security law this morning.
“He was arrested under SOSMA at his home in Ampang. The arrest took place at 8am. His two daughters were also nearly arrested by the police when they protested against the arrest of their father,” said lawyer Fadiah Nadwa Fikri, when contacted.
Another lawyer, Wan Hidayati Nadirah Wan Ahmad Nasir confirmed that Hilmi has also been arrested under similar circumstances.
“We have no confirmed information. We believe that both are detained under SOSMA and will be charged under section 130 K (A) of the Penal Code. They are currently detained in Bukit Aman,” she said.
The section makes it an offence to harbour terrorists. Those found guilty under the act would face a life sentence and liable to a fine, or a maximum of 20 years imprisonment and a fine.
In February, Yazid, were detained under SOSMA and charged under section 130 of the Penal Code for promoting terrrorism in Syria. Hilmi and Halimah Hussin were charged with abetting with Yazid.
On Feb 8, Yazid, a canteen operator at the Jalan Duta Court Complex here and Halimah, a housewife, were charged with allegedly committing the offence at a house in Taman Bukit Ampang, Ampang, between 8.30 and 10.30 am, from Aug 1 to Oct 20, 2012.
They were the first individuals to be charged under Section 130G(a) of the Penal Code, which carries a maximum of 30 years in prison and fine, upon conviction, after the abolishment of the Internal Security Act 1960.
All three were however freed last week after judge Kamardin Hashim allowed the application by defence counsel led by Amer Hamzah Arshad to strike out the charges on the grounds that SOSMA which was enacted under Section 149 of the Federal Constitution could be used to detain the trio.
Kamardin said Article 149 of the Federal Constitution was only applicable for acts of threats in Malaysia.
“Since the charges against them involved offences committed in Syria, Article 49 and SOSMA, which is enacted under Article 149, cannot be used to prove the charges against them,” he added.
He said it would be an abuse of the court process if the prosecution was allowed to go on. Deputy public prosecutor Abdul Wahab Mohamad then applied for the three to be detained pending an appeal of the court’s decision at the Court of Appeal.
However, the application was rejected. Read more at
here .
