KUALA LUMPUR, April 15 — The Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM) revealed that the radicalisation process which supporters of terrorist groups went through caused them to adopt a radical position of only either right or wrong of something.
Bukit Aman Special Branch principal assistant director (Counter-Terrorism E8) DCP Normah Ishak said they were brainwashed.
“However, it is normally a misconception. So these supporters are interested with terrorist propaganda, especially about jihad and martyrdom…the broad concept of jihad has been narrowed down only to martyrdom.
“These group of people died of martyrdom by not settling their personal debts. There are some Malaysians who took personal loans for fund for them to migrate to Syria with no intention of repaying it,” she told Bernama recently.
She said this was despite the teachings of Islam as emphasised in the Quran that martyrdom becomes null and void for those who are in debt.
“I sympathised with these unfortunate people (supporters of terrorist groups) … they have misguided perceptions,” she added.
She said the process of radicalisation could happen to anyone, such as the anti-vaccine group.
On how supporters of terrorist groups are recruited, Normah said it is through the use of modern technology.
“While we are surfing the Internet, the recruiters (of terrorist groups) are also monitoring as well, and they create opportunities for interaction and they fall into the trap and become loyal followers,” she said, adding that the method is commonly used by other criminals involved in love scams, Macau scams, and other forms of fraud.
She said besides the ‘online radicalisation through recruitment’, there are also those who become supporters of terrorist groups because of their obsession with certain issues such as stories on the hereafter and about Imam Mahadi.
— Bernama
