KUALA LUMPUR: In a stuffy corridor at the Duta court complex in Kuala Lumpur, 62-year-old Ramlah sits quietly on a bench. Her 4-year-old grandson sleeps soundly next to her, worn out from the long drive wee hours in the morning.
For more than two years, Ramlah and her family have been travelling from the southern state of Johor to Kuala Lumpur every week to attend her son’s hearings. It is the only time she is able to see her son apart from monthly scheduled visits to Sungai Buloh prison.
Her son Nor Azmi Jalani, 29, was charged in 2015 for plotting to kidnap some of the most prominent politicians in the country, including Prime Minister Najib Razak, Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and Defence Minister Hishammuddin Hussein.
Nor Azmi has denied any wrongdoing and has claimed that he was merely driving his friend to a gathering where the plot was allegedly hatched. If found guilty, he could be jailed for up to 12 years.
Ramlah, whose eyes were swollen from lack of sleep, claimed that her son was tortured by authorities who tried to force him to confess.
“I know my son was tortured,” she said. “I know the cruelty they did to my son. As a mother, I must help him no matter what.”
Ramlah raised five sons and all of them served in the army; her husband too served in the armed forces. She said she does not understand why the army did not give her son support.
In fact, Ramlah said no army representative has showed up to see how the family was doing since Nor Azmi’s ordeal began.
Her eldest son quit the army in 2016 and is determined to clear his brother’s name.
“The family is tired; we have spent a lot of money and time,” he said. “He didn’t do anything wrong, so why should he plead guilty?”
Not many terror suspects have the support of their families like Nor Azmi.
Last march when Imam Wahyudin and Jonius Indie were sentenced to 25 years imprisonment for the grenade attack at Movida nightclub outside Kuala Lumpur, none of their families turned up for the verdict.
Indeed, there has been a marked increase in the number of terror cases being heard in courts compared to previous years, almost on a fortnightly basis, according to lawyers.
“We do see a lot of people pleading guilty when they are charged with terror offences,” said Syahredzan, a legal practitioner. “Most of the time they plead guilty in turn for lesser sentence.”
Syahredzan said the authorities need to widen their scope further in order to tackle the root causes of extremism linked to the Islamic State (IS) group.
“If family members feel isolated and wronged by the system, it could lead to more cases of extremism,” he said.
“We cannot just focus on prosecution – how many have been prosecuted and how many have been rehabilitated – but we must also look at the environment; are we allowing environments that encourage extremism?”
He warned that the Malaysian government sometimes sends out mixed signals unknowingly and that is dangerous.
“There may be a situation where we are actually breeding racial and religious superiority? Ideology that is exclusive with no space for other religions.” Syahredzan added: “That’s something we need to look at – and we can’t look at it in isolation.” Preachers, he said, are sometimes to blame in contributing to a rise in extremism.
While it may seem harmless in taking selfies with controversial Muslim preachers such as Mufti Mink and Zakir Naik, it may have far reaching repercussions, according Syahredzan.
“The government ought to be more wary of such people,” said Syahredzan. “Otherwise it’ll give people the impression that the authorities are OK with them … so whatever they say must be acceptable; slowly extremist thoughts will seep into society and take root.”
With Malaysia’s most wanted IS operative Muhd Wanndy Mohd Jedi now confirmed killed by a drone strike in Syria, authorities Channel NewsAsia spoke with have said that while it has been quiet so far, they are not taking their eyes off the radar as yet.
Source: channelnewsasia.com
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