Checks by FMT discovered that five of the 12 books purportedly in Aishah’s possession were authored by Al-Qaeda followers and one was even written by Osama bin Laden, perhaps the most infamous Al-Qaeda leader, who became America’s foremost public enemy after the Sept 11 2001 terror attacks.
However, to date, these books have not been blacklisted or banned by the home ministry.
These books include titles such as “Visi Politik Gerakan Jihad”, “Al-Zarqawi – al-Qaida’s Second Generation”, “Dari Usama Kepada Para Aktivis”, “Dari Rahim Ikhwanul Muslimin Ke Pangkuan al-Qaeda” and “Ketika Maslahat Dipertuhankan dan Menjadi Taghut Model Baru”.
The book “Visi Politik Gerakan Jihad” was authored by two people, one of whom was Abu Mush’ab As-Suri.
Abu Mush’ab is an Al-Qaeda follower wanted by Spanish authorities over the bombing of a restaurant in Madrid in 1985 which killed 18 people.
The book “Al-Zarqawi – al-Qaida’s Second Generation” was written by journalist Fouad Hussein, who interviewed Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi and Saif Al-Adel, two top Al-Qaeda leaders.
As for the book “Ketika Maslahat Dipertuhankan dan Menjadi Taghut Model Baru”, it was authored by Abu Muhammad Ashim Al Maqdisiy, a mentor of Al-Zarqawi. His views were also featured in Fouad’s works.
“Dari Usama Kepada Para Aktivis” is a book written by Osama and Syaikh Yusuf Al Uyairi, who was Osama’s right-hand man and former bodyguard.
The book titled “Dari Rahim Ikhwanul Muslimin Ke Pangkuan Al-Qaeda” was written by current Al-Qaeda leader Ayman Al-Zawahiri. In the past, Al-Zawahiri has been implicated in terror attacks in North America, Asia, Africa and the Middle East.
In fact, Washington has offered a US$25 million (RM110.6 million) reward for information on Al-Zawahiri.
FMT also found that some of these books could be read online.
Aishah was first detained in March 2016, under Section 130JB of the Penal Code and Sosma for possessing 12 books said to be linked to militant groups.
In April 2016, she was charged at the Kuala Lumpur High Court and pleaded not guilty to the charges.
The then Universiti Malaya Master’s in Usuluddin (Islamic studies) student claimed the books were part of her research for her studies.
After her arrest, she was dismissed by UM because she failed to attend classes.
Last September, the High Court cleared her of all charges after no prima facie case was established against her.
On the same day that she was released, Aishah was rearrested under the Prevention of Crime Act 2014 (Poca) for 60 days.
Upon her release, she was placed under house arrest and fitted with an electronic monitoring device to ensure she did not leave the Surah district in Dungun, Terengganu, without the approval of the police.
On March 29, Aishah was arrested under Sosma and is now being held at the Kajang prison in Selangor.
Her latest arrest has come under fire from human rights groups and some Pakatan Harapan leaders.
Yesterday, Deputy Home Minister Nur Jazlan Mohamed slammed the opposition for trying to gain political mileage from Aishah’s arrest.