DPM: Zamihan needed to reform terrorists
KUALALUMPUR: The Government still needs the expertise of Muslim preacher Zamihan Mat Zin to help rehabilitate IS militant detainees, said Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
He said Zamihan was conducting a rehabilitation programme for IS militants at the Tapah Prison in Perak.
Dr Ahmad Zahid, who is also Home Minister, said Zamihan's expertise was still needed in this area although the Selangor government prohibited him from giving ceramah (talks) in the state.
“Zamihan is an expert in rehabilitation and going by records, he has been successful,” he said after delivering a keynote address at the Huawei Asia-Pacific 2017 Innovation Day here yesterday.
Dr Ahmad Zahid was asked to comment on a statement by PKR supreme council member Latheefa Koya who had asked why the Federal Government continued to allow Zamihan to conduct rehabilitation programmes for IS militant detainees when the Selangor government disallowed his talks.
The Deputy Prime Minister said Zamihan was an officer with the Islamic Development Department of Malaysia seconded to the Home Ministry to inspect religious publi- cations and is now placed in the Prisons Department as a rehabilitation officer for former militants and extremist criminals.
“I do not think he should be penalised for the post he holds in prison,” he said.
On another matter, Dr Ahmad Zahid said the Government had set a target to reduce the crime rate by up to 53.2% with the implementation of asset and operations digitalisation in modern policing.
He said the effort would improve efficiency in combating crime and safeguarding public security in the country.
The digitalisation move, he said, includes the installation of highdefinition automatic detection closed-circuit cameras in phases over a two-year period.
He said a total of 200 hotspots had been identified under three categories – frequent occurrences of crime; drug distribution and addiction; and road accident stretches.
“The CCTV high-definition detection cameras can monitor a criminal offence and track the criminals in accordance with international standards. Existing CCTV cameras can capture photographs but cannot track anyone. The new CCTV cameras can do that,” he said. — Bernama