SINGAPORE
In a statement, Singapore’s Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said he has been arrested under the Internal Security Act.
Mas Selamat escaped from the Whitley Road Detention Centre on Feb 27, 2008.
But following close cooperation between the security agencies in Malaysia and Singapore, the Malaysian Special Branch re-arrested him in Johor on April 1 last year and detained him under Malaysia’s Internal Security Act.
The MHA conveyed its appreciation to its Malaysian counterparts, the Malaysian Special Branch and the Special Task Force for their help with the arrest and repatriation of Mas Selamat to Singapore.
Malaysian Home Affairs Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said in an SMS to
Both governments and the relevant security agencies felt the time was right. He is after all from Singapore. It shows the level of confidence and cooperation between the two countries is high especially on security issues.”
The terrorist leader is expected to be grilled extensively by the Singapore authorities about the level of support and sympathisers he may have here, observers noted. Mr Alvin Yeo, Government Parliamentary Committee for Law and Home Affairs chairman, said: “The first priority is to make sure that he does not get away again. The second priority is to try and obtain as much information as we can of the level of support for the JI in Singapore.
“For instance, did he have help to escape from Singapore to Malaysia?
Obviously you want to know how he escaped and basically what was the level of support he got.”
The MHA did not say where Mas Selamat would be held but observers said if he does return to the Whitley Road Detention Centre, he will face stricter restrictions to his movements and privileges compared to other detainees. In a written reply to Parliament last year, Deputy Prime Minister Wong Kan Seng said a new detention centre will be built inside the maximum security Changi Prison Complex to hold terror detainees within five years.
Mr Kumar Ramakrishna, a counter terrorism expert at the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies, believed that Mas Selamat would be detained again at Whitley Road and — this time — under far stricter guard.
“We can be sure of one thing, that precautions will be in place to ensure that he doesn’t escape again.
“Perhaps, in comparison to other detainees, he will be placed under far stricter restrictions on his movements and his privileges in order to ensure that there is no repetition of the escape, especially since he has proven himself to be a very wily operator ... able to spot vulnerabilities in prison systems,” he said.
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