Police: ISA all about rehabilitation, not punishment

(The Malaysian Insider) – The Internal Security Act (ISA) is designed to rehabilitate detainees and not a form of punishment as claimed by certain quarters.

Deputy Inspector-General of Police, Tan Sri Ismail Omar said the ISA was aimed at correcting their understanding and ideology, not to punish individuals or groups.

“Although the communist threat is over, the ISA is still needed as the country is still exposed to threats from militant groups, religious and racial extremists,” he said at a talk entitled “Is the ISA Repressive?” here last night.

The police have to operate under the Act to avoid something traumatic like the racial riots on May 13, 1969, he said.

Ismail said the ISA was not repressive but relevant to safeguard national security.

Former Al-Arqam adviser Zabidi Muhammad said the ISA should be retained and urged police to take stern action to protect innocent lives.

“I was detained under the Act for three years and I are now a better person. The others detained together with me have succeeded to become entrepreneurs and teachers,” he said.

Former Jemaah Islamiah treasurer Faiz Abu Bakar Bafana, who wanted to bomb a church in Indonesia, said the ISA has given him a second chance to return to the right path.

“The Act gave me the chance to correct past mistakes and return to the family and society,” said Faiz who was detained for four and a half years.