THE Better Beer Festival that had been slotted to run earlier this month was cancelled for the betterment of everyone, especially because of the early detection of a terror threat, says Deputy Prime Minister Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.

He said that was why Inspector-General of Police Mohamad Fuzi Harun had requested for the festival to be cancelled.

“He knew about the threat early. We are colour-blind and what we did was for the good of all,” he said.

Zahid was replying to question from Ipoh Barat MP M. Kulasegaran, who asked if the government had identified the “extremist” behind the cancellation and if government had to cancel the event because it has no political power.

Zahid said three people had been arrested and the authorities were gathering more information.

Fuzi had, on October 17, announced the arrest of three people, including a teen bomb maker.

Fuzi said the arrests were made a week before the festival were to be held, proving that the threat had been real.

The Better Beer Festival was supposed to have taken place on October 6 and 7 at the Publika Shopping Gallery, and was to feature 250 craft beers from 43 breweries worldwide.

The teen and two others were arrested in Pasir Puteh, Kelantan.

Among items seized from them were bomb-making paraphernalia and improvised explosive devices (IED).

It is learnt that the IED created by a 19-year-old, who was picked up by the counterterrorism unit, had a 20m to 30m fatality radius.

An intelligence report revealed that the teen was among three people arrested last week who had planned to launch an attack on the cancelled Better Beer Festival.

Fuzi said the arrests were the results of intelligence efforts.

Kuala Lumpur City Hall had rejected the event’s permit application after PAS central committee member Dr Riduan Mohd Nor spoke out against the festival, calling it “pesta maksiat” (vice party) and claiming that it would turn Kuala Lumpur into the “largest vice centre in Asia”.

Police also released a statement saying there were threats of militant attacks if the event was allowed to go on.

Prior to the arrest of the trio, police had nabbed eight others for alleged terror activities.

They were four locals, three Filipinos and an Albanian.

One of the Filipinos was said to have permanent resident status in Malaysia. – October 24, 2017.