Zahid Hamidi, TELL US what Malaysia considers as being 'terrorist organisations'? Hamas? ISIS?

Who are the organisation that Malaysia considers to be 'terrorist organisations'? This is very important information that everyone needs to know - so we won't be breaking Malaysian laws. 

What about the groups in Palestine - is HAMAS considered a terrorist organisation? [ Since 2007, Hamas has been the governing authority of the Gaza Strip].  

Does Malaysia now follow what the US considers as terrorist organizations? Do we follow some UN list? We need to know because many Malaysians still do make donations to help the Palestinians, even the Tamils in Sri Lanka, etc ... We really do not want to be breaking Malaysia's laws.

Zahid Hamidi, Malaysian Minister of Home Affairs

A consideration of the laws see that ultimately it is the Minister of Home Affairs who will  'by order published in the Gazette, declare the entity to be a specified entity.' - a terrorist organisation.

I went to the e-Federal Gazette, and searched for gazettes under the relevant law - BUT I could not find the list of organisations that Malaysia has decided to be 'terrorist organisations'.

The Malaysian Government really must be OPEN and TRANSPARENT and tell us what are the organisations that Malaysia now considers to be terrorist organisations? 

This list should be made available in our Police, Attorney General and the Home Minister's website. Good idea for it to also be published in the media from time to time...

Then, we can all stay away from such terrorist organisations...

 

Well, I looked at POTA (Prevention of Terrorism Act 2015, and Section 2 of the Act says this:- 

"listed terrorist organization" means any specified entity declared under sections 66B and 66C of the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001 [Act 613];

Then, I looked at the Penal Code, which also provides for a Chapter entitled, Offences Relating to Terrorism', whereby section 130B   provides for interpretation in relation to this Chapter, and section 130B(1) has this to say..

"terrorist" means any person who-

(a) commits, or attempts to commit, any terrorist act; or
(b) participates in or facilitates the commission of any terrorist act,

and includes a specified entity under section 66B or section 66C of the *Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorism Financing Act [Act 613];

"terrorist entity" means any entity owned or controlled by any terrorist or terrorist group and includes an association of such entities;

"terrorist group" means-

(a) an entity that has as one of its activities and purposes the committing of, or the facilitation of the commission of, a terrorist act; or
(b) a specified entity under section 66B or section 66C of the *Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorism Financing Act;

Likewise in the Special Measures Against Terrorism in Foreign Countries Act, 

“listed terrorist organization” means any specified entity declared under sections 66b and 66c of the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti- Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001 [Act 613]

Well, what does this specified entity under section 66B or section 66C of the *Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorism Financing Act [Act 613] Section 66B of the Act says:-

(1) Where the Minister of Home Affairs is satisfied on information given to him by a police officer that-

(a) an entity has knowingly committed, attempted to commit, participated in committing or facilitated the commission of, a terrorist act; or
(b) an entity is knowingly acting on behalf of, at the direction of, or in association with, an entity referred to in paragraph (a),

the Minister of Home Affairs may, by order published in the Gazette, declare the entity to be a specified entity.

(2) In making an order under subsection (1), the Minister of Home Affairs may, for the purpose of facilitating the implementation of the order, consult with the relevant regulatory or supervisory authority or such other body or agency as the Minister of Home Affairs considers appropriate.

(3) Where an order under subsection (1) has been made-

(a) no citizen of Malaysia and no body corporate incorporated in Malaysia shall within or outside Malaysia knowingly provide or collect by any means, directly or indirectly, property with the intention that the property be used, or in the knowledge that the property is to be used, by a specified entity;

(b) no citizen of Malaysia and no body corporate incorporated in Malaysia shall within or outside Malaysia knowingly-

(i) deal, directly or indirectly, in any property of a specified entity, including funds derived or generated from property owned or controlled directly or indirectly by that entity;
(ii) enter into or facilitate, directly or indirectly, any transaction related to a dealing referred to in subparagraph (i);
(iii) provide any financial or other related service in respect of the property referred to in subparagraph (i); or
(iv) make available any property or any financial or other related service, directly or indirectly, for the benefit of a specified entity;

(c) no citizen of Malaysia and no body corporate incorporated in Malaysia shall within or outside Malaysia knowingly do anything that causes, assists or promotes, or is intended to cause, assist or promote, any activity prohibited by paragraph (a) or (b);

(d) every citizen of Malaysia and every body corporate incorporated in Malaysia shall disclose immediately to the Inspector General of Police-

(i) the existence of property in their possession or control that they have reason to believe is owned or controlled by or on behalf of a specified entity; and
(ii) information about a transaction or proposed transaction in respect of property referred to in subparagraph (i).

(4) Any person who contravenes subsection (3) commits an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding three million ringgit or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years or to both.

(5) Where an order under subsection (1) has been made, all secured and unsecured rights and interests held by a person, other than a specified entity or his agent, in the frozen property are entitled to the same ranking as they would have been entitled to had the property not been frozen.

(6) A specified entity may, within sixty days of publication of the order in the Gazette, make an application in writing to the Minister of Home Affairs for the revocation of the order made under subsection (1), or deemed under section 66C to have been made, in respect of that entity.

(7) If, on an application made under subsection (6), the Minister of Home Affairs-

(a) decides that there are reasonable grounds for the revocation of the order, the Minister of Home Affairs shall revoke the order and publish an order of revocation in the Gazette; or
(b) decides that there are no reasonable grounds for the revocation of the order, the Minister of Home Affairs shall refuse the application and shall, within sixty days of receipt of the application, inform the applicant of his decision.

(8) The decision of the Minister of Home Affairs under subsection (7) shall be final.

(9) Unless sooner revoked under paragraph (7)(a), the Minister of Home Affairs shall review the orders made under subsection (1) every six months to determine whether there are still reasonable grounds, as set out in subsection (1), for any such order to continue to apply to a specified entity, and if the Minister of Home Affairs determines that there are no such reasonable grounds, he shall immediately revoke the order made under subsection (1) in respect of that specified entity.

(10) An order under this section shall not apply to funds and other financial assets or economic resources or any part of such funds, assets or resources that have been determined by the Minister of Home Affairs to be-

(a) necessary for basic expenses, including payments for foodstuffs, rent or mortgage, medicines and medical treatment, taxes, insurance premiums, and public utility charges, or exclusively for the payment of reasonable professional fees and reimbursement of incurred expenses associated with the provision of legal services, or fees or service charges for routine holding or maintenance of frozen funds or other financial assets or economic resources; or
(b) necessary for extraordinary expenses approved by the Minister of Home Affairs,

and where such order has been made in relation to such funds, financial assets or economic resources or any part thereof, the Minister of Home Affairs may, subject to such terms and conditions as he considers appropriate, vary such order and authorize access to such funds, assets or resources.

(11) Where an order under subsection (1) has been made, the Minister of Home Affairs shall direct the relevant regulatory or supervisory authority to issue such orders, directives or circulars to the institutions it regulates or supervises to facilitate the implementation of the order and the relevant regulatory or supervisory authority shall comply with such direction.

 And section 66C says

(1) Where the Security Council of the United Nations decides, in pursuance of Article 41 of the Charter of the United Nations, on the measures to be employed to give effect to any of its decisions and calls upon the Government of Malaysia to apply those measures, the Minister of Home Affairs may, by order published in the Gazette, make such provision as may appear to him to be necessary or expedient to enable those measures to be effectively applied.

(2) Where an order under subsection (1) makes provision to the effect that there are reasonable grounds to believe that an entity designated by the Security Council of the United Nations is engaged in terrorist acts, the order under subsection (1) shall be deemed, with effect from the date of the order, to be an order declaring that entity to be a specified entity under subsection 66B(1).

(3) An order under subsection (1) shall not apply to funds and other financial assets or economic resources or any part of such funds, assets or resources that have been determined by the Minister of Home Affairs to be-

(a) necessary for basic expenses, including payments for foodstuffs, rent or mortgage, medicines and medical treatment, taxes, insurance premiums, and public utility charges, or exclusively for payment of reasonable professional fees and reimbursement of incurred expenses associated with the provision of legal services, or fees or service charges for routine holding or maintenance of frozen funds or other financial assets or economic resources; or
(b) necessary for extraordinary expenses approved by the Minister of Home Affairs,

and where such order has been made in relation to such funds, financial assets or economic resources or any part of the funds, assets or resources, the Minister of Home Affairs may, subject to such terms and conditions as he considers appropriate, vary such order and authorize access to such funds, assets or resources.