July 25, 2022
THE government must explain its insistence on extending the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 (Sosma) provision for detention without trial when there are other laws, DAP lawmaker Charles Santiago said.
“Indefinite detention without trial is open to abuse and gives rise to the possibility of torture when in custody,” said the Klang MP in a statement today.
“Preventive administrative detention also restricts civil liberties such as freedom of speech, expression and movement, on top of denying detainees the right to free trial.”
Like other opposition lawmakers, Santiago said the police can use the criminal procedure code (CPC) and other laws to investigate and do not need Sosma.
He said the right to free trial is not just an internationally recognised human right but also a cornerstone of democracy and protects the rights of accused persons throughout the judicial process.
“As such, why is Home Minister Hamzah Zainudin adamant about tabling the extension?
“Unless the government has an agenda of using indefinite detention without trial to keep a lid on dissent, it should scrap the retabling of the provision under Sosma,” he said.
In the March parliamentary meeting, the Dewan Rakyat narrowly voted not to extend subsection 4(5) of Sosma for another five years.
However, Hamzah last week tabled a new motion to overturn the vote. The vote was passed owing to a greater number of government MPs in the House.
Hamzah is now expected to table another motion to extend the subsection for another five years starting July 31.
The law, which allows for detention up to 28 days without trial, is aimed at allowing the police sufficient time to investigate suspected terrorists after the 9/11 events in the United States.
And although the government says it would not be used against political rivals, former Bersih 2.0 chairman and now Petaling Jaya MP Maria Chin Abdullah was detained under Sosma for 10 days in November 2016 for organising the Bersih 5 rally.
In 2019, the government settled a court case with Maria and paid her RM25,000 in damages and RM5,000 in costs without any admission of liability.
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Sosma provision already voted down, why govt insistence on reviving it, asks MP