Shahrizan
KOTA KINABALU: Six Sabahans were arrested on suspicion of having connections with the Islamic State (IS) last year.
Inspector Mohd Shahrizan Yahaya of the Sabah contingent police headquarters (IPK), said one of the suspects was apprehended in Kuala Lumpur while the remaining five were detained in the east coast of West Malaysia.
He revealed this during a talk on ‘Threat of IS Militants and Sabah Sarawak Keluar Malaysia (SSKM) Ideology at Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) here yesterday.
Without disclosing further details, Shahrizan said the six suspects were all youths who were influenced to support IS through the social media.
“Based on our intelligence, we made the arrests as they were considered a threat to the State,”he said.
Nonetheless, Shahrizan assured that the threat of IS militants in Malaysia and Sabah was still under control.
He said the police had not detected any varsity students who were involved in IS militant activities, when asked for the reason why the talk was held in UMS.
“We just want them to understand the current threats around them, especially in Sabah.”
Earlier, he disclosed that 61 Malaysian citizens joined the IS group and several of them were reportedly killed.
Shahrizan said the IS group had used the concept of jihad to gain support from the community, especially the younger generation.
“They target youths because they are assets and have the energy to fight with them. One of the medium they use is the social media.”
Shahrizan said Malaysia rejected the IS ideology because it is based on extremism and violence, which is not consistent with Islamic teachings and the Federal Constitution.
The IS, he said, is estimated to have 31,500 members consisting of locals from Syria and Iraq and foreign militants, and was believed to have collected RM7 billion worth of assets, in addition to earning RM3 million daily by selling oil in the black market and the RM1.5 billion seized from the Bank of Mosul, he said.
Shahrizan went on to say that the IS group had exploited Islamic teachings and misinterpreted the concept of jihad and the real meaning of hijrah.
The militants also legalized the killing of Muslims who did not support their jihad, he said.
On the threat of IS, Shahrizan said the rising influence of US could inspire and reactivate militant groups such as Jemaah Islamiah (JI), Al-Maunah, Kumpulan Mujahidin Malaysia (KMM), Darul Islam and Tanzim Al-Qaeda in Malaysia.
He said IS leaders had now instructed the militants to return to their countries and continue their struggles, such as the attack perpetrated on the French magazine Charlie Hebdo in Paris on January 6 this year and the latest at the Bardo Museum, Tunisia on March 18.
Shahrizan said the involvement of Malaysians in the armed conflict in Syria and Iraq could expose our country to many security threats.
“We are worried about Malaysians who are with them (IS militants) in Syria. If they succeed in entering our country, they will act as lone rangers to carry out terrorism acts in places where they think should be bombed. Now the situation is still peaceful, but this is not proof that we are not under threat.”
He said the militants would also expand their network in their home countries and recruit more youths to join IS, thereby increasing the security risks in Malaysia, especially in the east coast of Sabah, which is already facing a threat from the Abu Sayyaf Group.
On the other hand, Shahrizan said the police would arrest Doris Jones, who operated a social media-based secession movement known as SSKM, once she entered Malaysia.
In answering a student’s question, Shahrizan said that it was difficult for the Malaysian police to work with Interpol or the British police to arrest Doris, who currently resides in the United Kingdom (UK), because the British deemed that Doris has her rights.
He said the warrant of arrest had been issued for Doris on January 16 this year.
Shahrizan said SSKM activists had been collecting signatures online and manually to achieve their target of 30,000 signatures.
The movement had also organized ceramahs, forums and gatherings such as the Malaysian Agreement 1963 – Past, Present and Future forum, Respect Malaysia Agreement 1963 campaign, Borneo Tea Party, launching of Oath Stone replica, Merdeka Walk and assembly in conjunction with World Human Rights Day.
Doris herself has communicated with SSKM activists and supporters through Skype in Tamparuli, Menggatal, Pitas, Matunggong, Kota Marudu, Ranau and Penampang.
“As of May 11, 2015, a total of 47,337 signatures have been collected for the ‘Call For Sabah Sarawak Rights’ petition on go-petition.com, while 5,850 signatures have been collected physically. The campaign to collect signatures is carried out mainly in areas where the majority residents are of the KadazanDusunMurut community.”
He said a task force chaired by the Sabah Police Commissioner, was established on September 3 last year to curb the issue of SSKM, racial and religious insults.
Shahrizan said a total of 12 police reports had been made against Doris and SSKM website, and four investigation papers had been opened under Section 4 (1)(c) of the Sedition Act 1948 and Section 500 of the Penal Code.