THE new unity government should review the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 (Sosma) and come up with a better law on security measures, Muda vice president Zaidel Baharuddin said.

He said the government can frame a much better law to deal with security issues, one that has the power to take swift action but also has a process of clear “checks and balances”.

“Many other democracies, which face the threat of active terrorism have specific bills to address those threats.

“However, they still put in place a checks-and-balances mechanism to ensure the individual rights of citizens are guaranteed,” he said in a statement.

Zaidel was responding to Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution, who said the government has no intention of reviewing Sosma.

Yesterday, Damansara MP Gobind Singh Deo described the minister’s position on the issue as being at odds with Pakatan Harapan’s (PH) stance, which has acknowledged Sosma to be “problematic”.

“While we accept that there is a need for laws to deal with the security of the nation, we cannot deny the fact that Sosma is oppressive in nature,” he said.

Lawyers for Liberty director Zaid Malek said the PH-led government cannot defend the draconian law, against which the coalition voted in parliament earlier this year when it was the opposition.

Rights group Malaysians Against Death Penalty and Torture (Madpet) also has demanded that the government repeal the provision that denies bail to detainees and restore the role of the magistrate in granting remand orders.

Zaidel said that Saifuddin is of the view that, unlike ISA (Internal Security Act), Sosma has the room for court proceedings after the expiry of the maximum detention period of 28 days.

“True, in terms of principle, Sosma compared to ISA is a more progressive act, but basically it’s still a biased law.

“Sosma gives sole powers to the authorities without any checks and balances.

“For example, the detention for 28 days without having to go through the court process (during the detention period). It is a very severe punishment without any trial or charge.”

He added that Sosma also allows enforcement agencies to intercept communications directly without any clear checks and balances mechanism.

“I think power like this makes it vulnerable to abuse. We have also seen examples in the past, how PKR MPs were arrested under Sosma for being involved in the organisation of Bersih (Rally).”

Zaidel said the intention of reformasi is to change the institution to have better governance and he believes the government should head towards this direction.

“If we go back to the old system then what difference is there with previous governments?” – December 15, 2022.