PUTRAJAYA, March 11 ― Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi urged Malaysians today to give their full backing to the proposed Prevention of Terrorism Act (Pota), saying the new law would prevent “zealots” from continuing their killings, especially of the non-Muslims, when they return home from fighting abroad.

The home minister said the new law is a necessary preventive measure in a plural society like Malaysia and that the unscrupulous murders committed by militant groups should never be tolerated.

“Our worry is not just when they fight to find their way to heaven,” Zahid said in his monthly address to his ministry here.

“But when they return, if we don’t have the prevention before they leave and return, then not just non-Muslims will be killed, but also Muslims,” he warned.

“I ask not just the MPs, but all citizens regardless of your religion and political ideology, must 100 per cent support this Pota law for the sake of the public and country’s safety.”

Additionally, Zahid again pledged that the law is not a replacement of the Internal Security Act (ISA) and will not be used against political dissenters.

“I want the opposition to not interpret [Pota] with a different interpretation … Come together with me and the Home Ministry,” urged the Bagan Datoh MP.

The proposed law was first announced in November, when the prime minister tabled a White Paper in Parliament titled “Addressing the threat of Islamic State”.

On Monday, Zahid said Malaysia needs the Pota as existing laws do not have sufficient preventive measures to address the threat of terrorism.

Deputy Home Minister Datuk Seri Wan Junaidi Jaafar also said previously that the new law will include preventive detention, punishment and evidential rules, special courts and procedures, and counselling.

Critics are concerned that the new law resembles the Internal Security Act, which was repealed in 2012, particularly over elements of arbitrary detention.

They also stressed that preventive detention powers could jeopardise the criminal justice system in the long run with no guarantee on the effectiveness in addressing extremism and violent ideologies.

The police revealed last week that in total, there are 61 Malaysians in strife-torn Syria fighting for jihadist groups, including 10 women and five children aged between one and 12 years-old.

The Bill to introduce the Pota will be tabled in the current parliamentary sitting.