KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 26 ― The now-repealed Internal Security Act (ISA) contributed greatly to the government's success in containing the spread of Islamic extremism and rehabilitating militants, Malaysia’s police intelligence chief Datuk Seri Mohamad Fuzi Harun said today.

The head of the Special Branch (SB) said the colonial security law empowered the authorities to act, and that the rehabilitation programme, which included religious re-education, managed to turn many former militants into successful businessman and professionals.

“With the ISA we could stop something before it happened… and we had the rehabilitation programme that emphasised on religious teaching such as making them understanding the real meaning of Jihad

“We have had success in turning them back… some have become businessmen and professionals,” Mohamad Fuzi told the International Conference on Deradicalisation and Countering Violence and Extremism here.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak abolished the ISA that allowed for detentions without trial in the run-up to the 2013 General Election in what analysts deemed to be an attempt to shore up support from the moderate electorate.

Civil rights groups and the opposition claimed the ISA violated human rights as it was used to quell political dissenters instead, and that it had been retained to keep the Barisan Nasional (BN) government in power.

Mohamad Fuzi claimed with the repeal of the ISA, the authorities were shackled by the absence of a law to contain the rapid rise of new terror threats like the Islamic State (IS).

“The rise of the IS was rapid and its threat had to be countered instantly by way of criminal law which required hard evidence to secure convictions. We were battling ideological war where evidence was not readily visible,” he said.

The federal government introduced several preventive detention laws since it repealed the ISA in 2011 but the move was strongly opposed by rights groups and the opposition who accused Putrajaya of attempts to impose political control through the new enactments.

The government has denied the allegation.

Today the special branch chief said deradicalisation and rehabilitation is a crucial component in the fight against Islamic terrorism.

But he admitted that the anti-terror campaign, particularly against the IS, is now more difficult with the advent of social media.

Mohamad Fuzi conceded that sites like Facebook and Twitter have made recruitment for the IS easier.

“It is an intricate task, especially with the presence of social media and all other communication apps,” he said.

A Pew Research Centre study last year on the attitude of Muslims towards IS showed that 11 per cent of Malaysians supported the Muslim militant group that has claimed responsibility over the January 14 bombings in Jakarta, Indonesia, that killed four civilians and four terrorists.

Bukit Aman’s counter-terrorism unit chief Datuk Ayub Khan previously noted that those drawn to the IS or other Islamic extremist groups often come from broken families and had shallow religious knowledge.