THE Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 (Sosma) has encouraged sloppy law enforcement work, a human rights lawyer said in urging the new government to keep its election promise and repeal the law.

Eric Paulsen, the legal director of Southeast Asian human rights watchdog Fortify Rights, said the law, which allows authorities to detain suspects for 28 days, is open to abuse and the use of torture to obtain evidence, he said.

While law enforcement officials argue that they would not be able to apprehend suspects without the law, Paulsen counter-argued that Sosma had made the work of law enforcement become “lax”.

“I could be subjected to torture, sleep deprivation, and the evidence would be admissible. Sosma allows authorities sweeping powers to do anything they want, and you don’t know whether the evidence is fabricated or obtained through torture.

“It makes police and the deputy public prosecutor lax in their work. They know that even if they don’t have good evidence, people can still be arrested, charged, and convicted. It provides them a shortcut,” the former executive director of Lawyers for Liberty said.

“They can arrest, investigate, and charge them. They don’t really have to do their homework to make sure their cases are airtight. Evidence obtained through torture would be admissible under Sosma provisions,” he added.

Paulsen said the Pakatan Harapan government had committed in its election manifesto that Sosma would be one of the laws repealed.

“The standard of trial is very low. There is a higher chance of miscarriage of justice. You don’t know who the witnesses are. Compare this to a normal criminal trial. (With Sosma), it could be done through anonymous witnesses. The defence cannot challenge these witnesses and evidence. There is no bail.”

Attorney-General Tommy Thomas said over the weekend that it would take the government some time to abolish Sosma, as law enforcement authorities were in favour of retaining the law.

Bukit Aman counterterrorism chief Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay said Sosma had enabled authorities to take swift action in curbing terrorism as it allowed police to act at an early stage.

“This is unlike other countries. They can’t act (early), and when they decide to act, it is always too late,” Ayob Khan had said.

Paulsen, however, said that Malaysian authorities should instead work harder to achieve higher investigation standards, stronger evidence, and better witness protection programmes for people to testify openly. – August 28, 2018.