Successful de-radicalisation programme due to device

KUALA LUMPUR: The government has attributed its hugely successful programme on deradicalising terrorists in the country to the electronic monitoring device (EMD).

Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said the use of EMD had contributed to a 97.5 per cent success rate in rehabilitating them.

He said terrorists undergoing de-radicalisation would be strapped with EMD for a certain period of time for the authorities to monitor their whereabouts.

“Through the EMD, we can monitor if they meet their old friends or go somewhere else beyond the permissible area,” he said at the third Counter-Terrorism Financing Summit at Bank Negara yesterday.

The summit was organised by Bank Negara in partnership with Australia’s financial intelligence agency Austrac, and Indonesia’s Pusat Pelaporan and Analisis Transaksi Keuangan.

Zahid said EMD also ensured that terrorists could not communicate with those who might be influenced by terrorist activities. He said a soft approach, with the involvement of ulama, psychologists and family members, was also used to de-radicalise the terrorists.

Zahid assured the public that the authorities were monitoring terrorism offenders closely and that there were specific mechanisms to keep them in check.

He said 289 terrorists underwent the de-radicalisation module between 2001 and 2012, and 282 of them were disengaged from terrorist activities.

Zahid said it was also important to prevent movement of terrorists across borders.

“Therefore, border control has been strengthened through an integrated approach, involving multi-discipline enforcement agencies and enhancement of immigration-related mechanisms such as the Advanced Passenger Screening System and enhanced security features of all travel documents.”