TRIALS under the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 (Sosma) are unfair because of “protected witnesses”, said lawyer Syahredzan Johan this morning.

The political secretary to Iskandar Puteri MP Lim Kit Siang said that the prosecution can call on these “protected witnesses” to testify in court, these witnesses being people the defendant cannot know about.

“The trial itself is unfair. The prosecution can call a ‘protected witness’ to testify. You cannot know who this witness is, see his face, or know anything.

“This witness will then tell the court that the accused is involved in terrorism, and claim that he knew the accused and the accused has previously confessed his activities,” the lawyer said today at a forum on Sosma themed “Who is the Terrorist?” in Petaling Jaya.

Syahredzan said that under Sosma, a suspected terrorist can’t be offered bail, but a person suspected of stealing millions can be freed on bail.

“Sosma is an unfair law. If you are charged under it, you cannot be bailed. Even if your charge only concerns having the picture of an Islamic State leader, you cannot be released on bail.

“However, if you steal hundreds of millions of taxpayers’ money, you can be freed and come up with the slogan ‘Malu Apa Bossku’ (Nothing to be ashamed of, my boss),” Syahredzan said, referring to Najib Razak’s current charm offensive and his charges for alleged corruption and abuse of power.

Syahredzan, who has handled Sosma-related cases, added that the court should have the power to decide how many days a suspect can be detained.

“It is true the United Kingdom has a law that allows a person to be detained for 28 days, but it is different from us.

“In the UK, the court decides whether a person is entitled to be detained, but in Malaysia it falls under the police’s discretion, which should not be the case.

“In the UK, it is called judicial detention. Our policemen must provide proof or prima facie as a reason to arrest someone.”

Syahredzan said that the whole process of trial and evidence-gathering conducted by the police was unfair to the accused.

“Sosma is an atrocious act. When I first started studying as a law student, we were told that one must be entitled to have a free and fair trial, but not under Sosma.

“The police can come up with statistics of arrests and numbers of people charged under the law, but that is meaningless because there was no free and fair trial,” he said. – February 9, 2019.