Police yesterday questioned former Malaysiakini journalist Aidila Razak over an interview she did last year as part of its investigation against Yazid Sufaat, who is facing terrorism charges under the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act , or Sosma.

The two-person team led by Inspector S Manivanan of the Counter-Terrorism Unit questioned at the Malaysiakini office in Bangsar Utama for about two hours.

NONE According to Aidila, the officers asked her about the three articles published in Malaysiakini on March 20, 21 and 22, which were based on an interview with Yazid (left) as part of the news portal's series on the Internal Security Act.

She said that the police had quizzed her on portions of her articles which touch on Yazid's activities in Afghanistan, his alleged ties to deceased al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and his views on the attacks on the World Trade Centre in New York in 2001.

M'kini stand on terrorism questioned

"They also asked how Malaysiakini set up the interview, Malaysiakini's stand on terrorism and whether the articles can be viewed as promoting terrorism.

"They indicated that they may want to speak with other Malaysiakini journalists involved in the interview," said Aidila, who is now attached to Malaysiakini's associate portal KiniBiz .

Yazid, the first person to be charged under Sosma, was interviewed at his home by a team of three, including the portal's chief editor Fathi Aris Omar and journalist Salhan K Ahmad.

A former ISA detainee, he pleaded not guilty to the charge of having "knowingly promoted the commissioning of terrorist acts with the intention of advancing an ideology, and this can be reasonably construed to be intended to threaten civilians in Syria".