KUALA LUMPUR: Militant Yazid Sufaat (pic) has been
freed after serving two years behind bars under the Prevention of Terrorism Act
(Pota), says Deputy Comm Datuk Ayob Khan.
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The Bukit Aman Special Branch Counter-Terrorism
Division (E8) head said Yazid was freed from the Simpang Renggam detention
Centre on Wednesday afternoon (Nov 19).
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"His release which was decided by the Prevention
of Terrorism Board requires him to wear an electronic monitoring device and
placed under house arrest," he said when contacted.
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Sources said Yazid is also required to be within the
Bandar Ampang area in Hulu Langat and he must report at the Ampang police
station twice a week.
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"He can only leave the designated area with a
written permission from the Selangor police chief," the sources said.
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It was reported that the 55-year-old US-trained
biochemist, described as an “unrepentant terrorist”, was being held at the
Simpang Renggam prison in Johor for two years under Pota.
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The act allows for the detention of a suspect without
trial for two years.
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Yazid, who has been jailed three times in the past 17
years for terrorism-related activities, once attempted to produce weapons of
mass destruction for al-Qaeda.
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It also said Yazid acquired four tonnes of ammonium
nitrate to prepare for a series of bombings in Singapore in 2000 before the
plot by the Jemaah Islamiah terror network was foiled.
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Yazid had also attempted to cultivate and load anthrax
onto weapons in Afghanistan in the 1990s.
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His home in Kuala Lumpur was also used by senior al-Qaeda
members for meetings.
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In one meeting, they had discussed plans to crash
planes in the United States on Sept 11, 2001.
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It was reported that Yazid was the only Malaysian with
direct links to the attacks.
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Yazid, a former army captain, was first arrested in
2002 under the Internal Security Act (ISA). He was released in 2008 after
undergoing rehabilitation and showed signs of “remorse” and “repentance”.
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He was detained for a second time in 2013 under the
Security Offences (Special Measures) Act (Sosma), the legislation that replaced
the ISA, for recruiting new members for the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.
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This led to a four-year jail sentence in Tapah prison.
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In December 2017, Yazid was re-arrested under Pota
after the authorities found that he had been recruiting fellow inmates for
al-Qaeda while in jail.
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Source: The STAR – 20 Nov 2019
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