Selangor gov't agrees to use of Poca and Pota

SHAH ALAM: The Selangor government agreed on the usage of the Prevention of Crime (Amendment and Extension) Act 2013 (Poca) and Prevention of Terrorism Act 2015 (Pota) to combat the development of Daesh activities in the state.
Selangor religious affairs executive councillor Datuk Dr Ahmad Yunus Hairi said deviant teachings such as the Daesh involves the national security.
He added both the federal and state governments were responsible in handling the spread of Daesh ideology.
"We agreed on the use of the Acts approved by Parliament, whether it is Pota or Poca, in managing the arrest of Daesh militants," he said.
Ahmad Yunus told the State Legislative Assembly when replying to Loh Chee Heng (Independent — Telok Datok).
Loh during the question and answer session had asked whether the state government agreed to the usage of Poca by the police to arrest suspected Daesh militants.
Laws such as Poca and Pota had previously been criticised by opposition lawmakers, stating that such regulations are against the concept of human rights.
Ahmad Yunus said the state government had implemented several measures in curbing the spread of IS' extreme ideology in Selangor.
This includes issuing a fatwa against militant movement, engagement with public members as well as holding state-wide Friday sermon on issues related to Daesh.
"We hope with such programmes, the rakyat will be able to see that the state government is serious on issues related to militants," he said.