The Internal Security Act (ISA) will be used as a last resort against those who spread malicious or false news through the short messaging service (SMS), said Deputy Internal Security Minister Fu Ah Kiow today.

He was responding to news reports that a woman in her 40s has been identified as the person responsible for the widely-circulated false SMS which claimed that a church in Perak was conducting a baptism ceremony for Muslims .

Following this, numerous quarters had urged the government to use the ISA against the perpetrator of the SMS, which had led hundreds of angry Muslims to converge at the church.

However, Fu said the case can be investigated under the provisions in the Penal Code and there was no need to invoke the security law, which provided for detention without trial.

"The ISA is always the last resort," he told reporters at the Parliament lobby.

On the same note, Fu said the incident showed the importance of registering pre-paid mobile phone users to prevent such abuses.

The government has set mid-December as the deadline for pre-paid mobile phone users to register their numbers.

Mufti identifies SMS perpetrator

Media reports today quoted Perak Mufti Harussani Zakaria as identifying the woman as the person responsible for the 'baptism for Muslims' SMS.

According to him, the woman is a graduate from the International Islamic University, who later studied at the Al-Azhar University in Cairo.

The woman is said to have joined a missionary group that carried out social work. She had converted to Christianity but has now apparently returned to Islam.

Harussani said he first received the SMS from the woman on Oct 21, which provided details such as the time and place for the alleged baptism.

The mufti said he met with the woman before Hari Raya and she brought along compact discs and documents that purportedly disclosed that national mariner Azhar Mansor would lead the baptism ceremony.

Recently, Inspector-General of Police Musa Hassan warned that the ISA can be used against those who spread malicious and false news via the SMS.