Yazid Sufaat and Muhammad Hilmi to be charged for terrorism

Canteen operator Yazid Sufaat and his assistant Muhammad Hilmi Hasim who were arrested today morning under the newly enacted Security Offences (Special Measures) Act (Sosma) 2012, will be charged at the Ampang Majistrate’s court in less than an hour.

Yazid’s lawyer, Fadiah Nadwa Fikri, in a tweet, confirmed this matter.

Yazid & Helmi will be charged at Ampang Magistrate's Court at 2pm #SOSMA
— Fadiah Nadwa Fikri (@FadiahNadwa) May 27, 2013

The duo, made the headlines earlier this year for being among the first people to be arrested under the Sosma.

Their arrest today, which is the second time they were detained under the same Act, is a mere one week after the courts set aside his previous charge.

Earlier, In confirming the matter to Astro Awani, Fadiah, said her client and his assistant, Muhammad Hilmi Hasim were arrested under Section 130 K (A) of the Penal Code, which falls under Sosma.

“I received a phone call from Yazid’s daughter Fatin, around 8am today. She said that some policemen are trying to arrest her father at their residence in Taman Bukit Ampang and asked me what they should do.

“I told her to ask the policemen the grounds of arrest and was told that Yazid is being arrested for terrorism offences. The answer was very general and after persisting, we found out that he was arrested under Section 130 K (A) of the Penal Code for harbouring terrorists for terrorist activities,” she said.

Fadiah said her colleague received a similar phone call regarding Muhammad Hilmi’s arrest.

“The duo are brought to Bukit Aman and the same legal team who handled their previous charge is trying to sort things out,” she added.

On Feb 8 this year, Yazid, 49, was charged under section 130G(a) of the Penal Code for promoting terrorism in Syria. Muhammad Hilmi, 33, and Yazid’s friend Halimah Hussin, 52, were charged for abetting with Yazid.

Last Monday, the Kuala Lumpur High Court threw out the maiden charges the trio that were, after allowing their applications to strike out the charges.

When handing down the judgment, Justice Kamardin Hashim said the court was satisfied that there was merit in the submission by the defence pertaining to the charges and the application of Sosma, which was enacted under Article 149 of the Federal Constitution.

In his judgment, Kamardin said Article 149 was only applicable for acts of threats in Malaysia.

Yazid was detained under the ISA in 2001 for seven years on suspicion of being involved with the Jemaah Islamiyah militant group.