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“It’s better for anyone who wants to give religious talks to get accreditation, regardless of the background, so we will know who they are and what they are going to talk about.”

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

ISA effective way to curb terrorism

(Bernama) -- The Internal Security Act (ISA) is undoubtedly an effective way to curb terrorism in Malaysia, Australian ambassador for Counter-Terrorism William Paterson said today.

"Malaysia chooses to use the preventive detention approach under the ISA... has it being effective? Without doubt, yes, it's been very effective," he told reporters after a roundtable discussion on "Australia's Perspective on Regional Counter-Terrorism Issues" here.

The one-day discussion was organised by the Foreign Ministry's Southeast Asia Regional Centre for Counter-Terrorism (SEARCCT) in collaboration with the Australian High Commission in Malaysia.

The discussion was chaired by SEARCTT Director-General Ahmad Shahizan Abdul Samad.

Paterson said every country had to come out with its own decision in dealing with terrorism.

"Indonesia took a very different approach, it decided to embark on criminal investigation, prosecution, (and then through) courts system to conviction... that also has proven very effective and that's the approach we take in Australia," he said.

Paterson said censorship of the Internet, which was often used as a tool by terrorists to build and coordinate their activities such as recruitment and fund-raising, was not the best solution to curb the problem.

"If we start censorship of the Internet we will be the big losers and there's no support from our society (because) people want a free and open Internet.

"There is no solution at the moment and they (terrorists) are also very hard to take down. You can get professional hackers to disrupt an extremist website but after you take that down, it will pop up somewhere else... it's a very difficult problem in the counter-terrorism world," he said.

Paterson also expressed high regard for Malaysia's capabilities and willingness to work with other countries in addressing the matter.

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This is exactly what I have been saying all long. If the authorities had clamped down on those terrorists from Medina 1,500 years ago then Muhammad and his band of merry men could have been wiped out before they became too powerful and a danger to the government.

"Malaysia chooses to use the preventive detention approach under the ISA... has it being effective? Without doubt, yes, it's been very effective," said the Australian ambassador for Counter-Terrorism, William Paterson.

In fact, come to think of it, they should have also used preventive laws against Jesus and his band of terrorists. Then, today, we would not be facing all these problems.

Sigh…governments must act, and act tough, if we want to clamp down on terrorism. Okay, maybe some of you do not regard Jesus and Muhammad as terrorists. But that is your opinion. It is not the opinion of the governments of the old days. To the governments, then, Jesus and Muhammad were certainly terrorists. And it is also the opinion of the government, today, that Bloggers are terrorists and that the ISA needs to be used against them even though you may not agree.

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Hasan Ali says arrest of ex-Perlis mufti according to the law

(The Malaysian Insider) - Datuk Dr Hasan Ali defended the recent arrest of the ex-Perlis mufti and said today there was nothing sinister in Selangor’s requirement for Islamic clerics to get accreditation before they are allowed to preach here.

The Selangor executive councillor in charge of Religious Affairs was responding to calls by Ulu Kelang lawmaker Saari Sungib, who wanted the rule to be amended following the arrest of Dr Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin on Nov 1.

Hasan, who is also the state PAS Commissioner, said the law was in place to prevent deviant teachings.

“It’s better for anyone who wants to give religious talks to get accreditation, regardless of the background, so we will know who they are and what they are going to talk about.”

"We are not trying to stop anyone from preaching and are just trying to be careful," said Hasan.

Saari, who is also from PAS, had tabled an emergency motion today in the state assembly to debate the arrest of the former mufti, and to overturn the decision by the state religious authority Jais to arrest Asri.

Saari was at the scene at the time of the arrest and said Asri was treated like a dangerous criminal by officers from the Selangor Islamic Religious Department (Jais) and police, before being released on bail.

However the motion was rejected by Speaker Teng Chang Khim, who said although the issue was specific and of public importance, it was not urgent.

But this did not stop Bukit Antarabangsa lawmaker Azmin Ali from criticising Jais and the police for treating Asri like a “terrorist” and describing the arrest as “disgusting” while debating the budget.

Hasan said he respected Saari’s views, especially since he was at the scene, and also Azmin’s criticism, but said the reports he received indicated Asri was reluctant to go with Jais officials and the police had to be called in to aid in the arrest.

He said the public should be also be fair to Jais and the police, who were acting on complaints from local residents.

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Again, there was this man named Muhammad who went around talking about religion without having a valid preacher’s licence.

Okay, maybe there is no verse in the Quran that says you need a licence to talk about religion. But the government says you need a licence and what the government says is what matters, not what the Quran says.

And this man named Muhammad possessed no such licence. And if they had arrested him to stop him for talking, like how the government of 1,500 years ago wished he would stop talking, then, today, we would not have all these wars between Muslims and Jews because there would not be any Muslims around.

See how important it is to make sure that only those with approved licences are allowed to talk about religion? And I am sure this Dr Asri chap never had a licence to talk about religion when he was the Perlis Mufti. The mind boggles why they did not arrest him sooner.

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