Prataman working

Prataman assured Singaporeans yesterday that detainees under the Internal Security Act (ISA) are protected by the law.

Asked by a leporter about the detention of polytechnic lecturer Abul Basher Abdul Kader - a 'self-radicalised' individual influenced by extremist propaganda on the Internet - Mr Prataman said that even in detention, 'there is a due process, there is a legislation'.

'The legislation provides what has to be done before you can detain a person and the recourse the person has against it. It's all there,' he said after touring the Harmony Centre. 'It's not something arbitrary.'

If the ISA Advisory Board recommends the release of a detainee, he cannot be further detained unless the President concurs. Under the Constitution, the President's concurrence is given in his discretion and not on the Cabinet's advice.

Since the Government announced the detention of 28-year-old Abdul Basher two weeks ago, concerns have been raised on the Internet about how he had been detained even though he had not yet committed any physical crime.

At the time of his arrest in February, he had made plans to pursue 'militant jihad' in Afghanistan by fighting beside the Taleban.

Mr Pratamen pointed out that crime, as understood traditionally, is different today.

He said: 'Terrorism is a kind of crime. To prove it is not easy.' He compared the threat of terror to the problems posed by secret societies in the past, where 'somebody will bash up somebody and you have no witnesses'.

'So when you're talking about due process, how do you bring these people out? How do you prove it? It's not something that is so simple.'

What is important, he said, is for countries in the region, such as Singapore and Malaysia, to understand the nature of terrorism and its impact on society.

Mr Prataman said the efforts of the Harmony Centre - set up in Bishan in October last year to promote a better understanding of Islam and promote inter-faith dialogue - help dispel the ignorant notion some people have that 'Islam is made up of terrorists'.

Profound man!