PETALING JAYA: Amanah’s Kuala Terengganu MP Raja Bahrin Shah has questioned why the 12 books found in possession of student Siti Noor Aishah Atan, leading to her arrest by the police, have not been banned after more than a year.
“These books are still being sold in several public bookshops,” he said.
“If it is true that the books were the main reason Siti Noor Aishah was arrested, the authorities have been very irresponsible in allowing many people to be exposed to these ‘dangerous’ publications which can cause them to be arrested.
“Where is the government’s consistency and responsible attitude in this issue?” he said in a statement today.
Siti is being held under the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 (Sosma) for possession of the reading materials.
On Sept 29 last year, she was acquitted and discharged by the High Court over the charge of having 12 publications related to terrorism.
The former Master’s student in Usuluddin (Islamic Studies) had pleaded not guilty and said she was using the books for research for her degree at Universiti Malaya.
However, she was rearrested under the Prevention of Crime Act 1959 (Poca) after her release. After her 60 days detention under Poca, she was placed under house arrest with an electronic monitoring device (EMD) attached to her leg.
On March 27 this year, following her hearing at the Court of Appeal in Kuala Lumpur, the 29-year-old Siti was detained again under Sosma.
Raja Bahrin criticised “intimidation tactics” on youths like Siti, citing a raid on her house in Dungun, Terengganu, by 40 armed security officers when arresting her.
“This is use of excessive force to intimidate a young woman who is weak and poor.”
Raja Bahrin said the government would do better to turn its efforts to solving the problems of people, including more than 530,000 people who were unemployed, 30% of whom were youngsters.
He said the youths faced perennial problems of scholarships, educational loans and affordable home ownership.
“The propaganda of intimidation and sweet-talk is a complementary tactic by the government to weaken and neglect the younger generation,” he said.
FMT reported earlier today that its checks discovered five of the 12 books purportedly in Aishah’s possession were authored by al-Qaeda followers and one was even written by Osama bin Laden, the infamous al-Qaeda leader said to be behind the Sept 11, 2001 terror attacks.
However, to date, these books have not been blacklisted or banned by the home ministry.
These books include titles such as “Visi Politik Gerakan Jihad” (Political Vision of the Jihad Movement) , “Al-Zarqawi – al-Qaida’s Second Generation”, “Dari Usama Kepada Para Aktivis” (From Osama to Activists at Large), “Dari Rahim Ikhwanul Muslimin Ke Pangkuan al-Qaeda” (From the Womb of the Muslim Brotherhood to the Lap of al-Qaeda) and “Ketika Maslahat Dipertuhankan dan Menjadi Taghut Model Baru” (When Natural Benefits are Idolised and Become New Models for Crossing the Limits)