Prisons department has refurbished former ISA detention centre so that suspected Islamic State members can be 'deradicalised' and accepted again by society, he says.

BAGAN DATOH: Home minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi has criticised a DAP protest about the use of the former Kamunting Camp detention centre for holding suspected members of the Islamic State militant network.

Zahid, who is also deputy prime minister, told residents of Taiping and surrounding areas not to be worried about their security following the government’s decision.

“The Prisons Department has refurbished the detention centre to enable the process of deradicalisation of the inmates to be conducted, so that they could be accepted again by the people.

“We do not have the time and money to build a new centre, so we are using the Kamunting Camp. There is no compromise with the country’s security, even though it is different, it should be well received,” he said.

For decades, Kamunting Camp was the main detention centre for those held without trial under the Internal Security Act, which was abolished two years ago.

Perak DAP chairman Nga Kor Ming, who is MP for Taiping, had announced plans for a petition campaign to prevent the Kamunting camp from being used for Daesh detainees.

Defence Minister Hishammuddin Hussein, who was here for Umno divisional meetings, agreed with Zahid that political leaders have important roles to help curb the threats of Daesh.

“The need is not only confronting our country, even major countries are also facing problems in combating Daesh.” He urged Umno members to use their delegates’ meeting as a platform to raise the awareness among the respective members.

Resource : Free Malaysia Today