KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s de-radicalisation and rehabilitation programme has a 95% success rate, with only a few hardcore militants who relapse, said Special Branch director Comm Datuk Seri Mohamad Fuzi Harun.
He said the department detained 240 terrorists from various groups, including Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) and Al-Qaeda, between 2001 and 2011.
“From the total, only 13 militants – 5% of the detainees – relapsed and reverted back to their ‘old’ ways.
“Among them are hardcore militants Nazri Dollah, Yazid Sufaat, Samad Shukri and Jeknal Adil,” Comm Mohamad Fuzi said during his presentation at the International Conference on De-radicalisation and Countering Violent Extremism here yesterday.
He said the Malaysian model was successful in rehabilitating and assimilating the detainees back into society.
“The majority included a handful of JI leaders once jailed under the Internal Security Act but subjected to rehab programmes. They are now businessmen and professionals.
“Even members of the Al-Ghuraba cell, comprising 13 Malaysian students who were detained in Pakistan in 2003, have excelled academically.
“They are now in distinguished positions both in the private and public sectors,” he added.
Another rehabilitation programme is being conducted specifically for 18 suspected IS militants in November and December last year.
“It is a pilot project involving lectures, discourses, discussions and counselling sessions with religious experts and police personnel with counselling backgrounds.
“It is focused on countering the Salafi Jihadi (violent jihadism) IS ideology,” he said.
The last aspect of de-radicalisation was the reintegration of detainees into society.
“The police will continue to monitor detainees to track their progress,” he added.
Comm Mohamad Fuzi said police had also started to use electronic monitoring devices on detainees, adding that more of these devices would be used in the future.
