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KLANG: After having harassed their clients into paying
exorbitant daily interest on their loans, 15 loan sharks are now going
to find the shackles put on them.
The Internal Security Ministry has obtained warrants of arrest on the along and will also place them under the Restricted Residence Ordinance for up to three years.
Deputy Internal Security Minister Datuk Noh Omar said that under the
ordinance, they would be banished to a remote district where they would
be under close police supervision to ensure that they did not repeat
their old habits, he said.
He said his ministry had obtained the warrants of arrest on Friday.
Police, he added, would decide on the district where the 15 men, aged
between 25 and 40, from Johor, Perak and Selangor, would be banished.
“Police records show that these men had repeatedly used underhand
tactics to harass their clients into paying interest rates as high as
20% on their loans per day,” Noh told a press conference after opening
the Meru Crime Prevention Programme at SMK Meru near here yesterday.
He said the ordinance was being used in this instance as there was no use of criminal force to frighten the clients.
If criminal force had been used, the culprits would have faced harsher penalties under the Emergency Ordinance.
“Along who
resort to violence against their customers will be detained in Simpang
Rengam under the Emergency Ordinance for up to two years,” Noh said.
He also issued a warning to those who used rough-handed tactics when repossessing cars.
He said it was against the law for car repossessors to remove or damage
gates of homes and “nobody is allowed to use force to enter private
property.”
He was asked to comment on the incident at Taman Desa Aman, Cheras at
5.30pm on Friday when a 59-year-old trader alleged that two men
claiming to be car repossessors removed the gates at his home to tow
away his Perodua Kembara.
The trader also claimed that RM15,000 which was kept in a safe in the
praying room had gone missing at the time of the incident.
Noh said even the police required a warrant to enable them to carry out
investigations on any premises and the law was clear on trespassing.
He said that of late he had received several complaints pertaining to
car repossessors going overboard when repossessing vehicles.
“Some are said to be resorting to intimidation and thuggery and we strongly warn them that this is against the law,” he said.
On a proposal to detain leaders of deviationist Islamic groups under
the Internal Security Act (ISA), Noh said the detention under ISA for
such offences was being carried out on a case-by-case basis.
He added that only those who caused serious threat to the country were detained under the ISA.
Noh said prosecution against those involved in deviationist Islamic
teachings came under the purview of state governments through the state
Islamic Affairs Department, tasked to closely monitor such groups which
number about 123 throughout the country.
He said that on most occasions, leaders of deviationist groups repented
after undergoing counselling although some continued to flout the laws
and threatened public order.
“If any of the state governments feel that the existing enactments in
the state cannot effectively deal with leaders of deviationist Islamic
groups, their respective state Islamic Affairs Department can apply to
the Internal Security Minister to detain these people under the ISA,”
said Noh.
He said that in the past, the Government had arrested some leaders of
the banned al-Arqam sect and Jemaah Islamiah Malaysia when their
actions became a threat to public security.
“I’d like to reiterate that the Government does not use the ISA as and
when it wishes. Such a law is introduced only when it is absolutely
necessary,” said Noh.
source: The Star 20-2-2005
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