Ramli Mahmood, 70, said he was taught a painful lesson about manipulation as he had unknowingly joined the outlawed Al-Maunah group, which took hostages from a Perak army camp in 2000, after a friend invited him to learn some “spiritual teachings”.

“The trials and tribulations of a life condemned to spend 20 years in the Kajang and Machang prisons taught me a great deal, particularly not to be easily deceived by anyone, including my own friends.

“I hope that young people are not easily influenced by the trend of teachings or new movements that can destroy the harmony of the country,” the father of eight said, according to Bernama.

Ramli, also known as Abe Li, said he was too trusting of this friend of his, who claimed the group’s teachings merely focussed on traditional healing and martial arts.

“At the beginning, I thought this movement was about learning traditional healing and silat,” he said, adding that he joined the deviant Islamic sect with 29 others when he was 47.

“However, I did not realise that it was a sinister movement which was going to threaten the country by waging war (high treason) against the Yang di-Pertuan Agong,” he said.

Members of Al-Maunah infiltrated an army camp in Gerik, Perak, on July 2, 2000, seizing hundreds of weapons and ammunition while taking several hostages as they plotted a violent coup.

Mediators had sat down with their leader, Amin Razali, at the group’s base in Bukit Jenalik, near Kuala Kangsar, to negotiate their surrender.

Amin eventually agreed to surrender, but backtracked and got into a scuffle with one of the negotiators, before the army stormed the group’s stronghold. Two hostages were killed in the ordeal.

Ramli’s involvement in Al-Maunah led him to be sentenced to life in prison, while Amin and his two right-hand men were sentenced to death for treason.

Ramli and 12 other former Al-Maunah members were freed in 2020 after receiving a royal pardon from the then Yang di-Pertuan Agong, Al-Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah.