Malaysian home minister: 519 people arrested for terrorism activities as of July

As of July, the Malaysian police have arrested 519 people suspected of having been involved in terrorism, said Home Minister Muhyiddin Yassin on Monday (Aug 26).

They comprise Malaysians and foreigners, he said, but did not give a breakdown of the numbers.

“These people were found to have been involved in activities that we consider as terrorism in the context of the criminal laws and the effect (of these activities) is that they carry threats.

“They were detained under the enforcement of the existing laws, regardless of whether it is the Prevention of Terrorism Act 2015 (POTA) or Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 (SOSMA),” he told a press conference.

Some of the suspects have been convicted, said Muhyiddin, citing police records.

In May this year, Malaysian police said they had detained the three remaining suspects of an Islamic State “wolf pack” believed to have been planning big-scale attacks and assassinations in Klang Valley.

Later that month, the authorities announced they had arrested three more terror suspects, one of them a Malaysian contractor who was seized at Kuala Lumpur International Airport as he was leaving for Egypt with plans to ultimately head to Syria.

Source: Channel News Asia