A LAWYERS’ group is the latest to join the chorus of voices calling on the government to repeal the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 (Sosma).

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

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

They were commenting on a statement from Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution yesterday in that the government has no intention of reviewing Sosma.

“We are disappointed and appalled that the PH-led government will not review this draconian act,” Zaid said.

“Has PH so quickly forgotten the horrors of unlawful and arbitrary detention under Sosma when peaceful protest leaders and 1MDB scandal critics were detained by the old BN regime to silence them?

“It is this very same Sosma law which the new government now staunchly defends.

“The new government’s backtracking on such a draconian law as Sosma is a matter of grave concern. Are there more of such u-turns and backsliding on the rule of law and human rights to come?”

“The new government’s backtracking on such a draconian law as Sosma is a matter of grave concern. Are there more of such u-turns and backsliding on the rule of law and human rights to come?”

“Does a draconian law become magically acceptable when you are in government, which was unacceptable when you were in the opposition?”

He said the fact that Sosma allows for detention of “only 28 days”, as Saifuddin argued, does not change the fact that it is an unreasonably long period of remand without judicial oversight.

Zaid said beyond the 28 days of remand, detainees who are later charged with offences may also be detained indefinitely pending trial.

Even if they are acquitted at trial, they can be further detained pending appeals. In short, persons arrested under Sosma may spend many years in jail even if they are innocent.

Madpet spokesman Charles Hector said there is an urgent need to review the law as many detainees are languishing in prison.

Hector urged Putrajaya to reveal how many people had been arrested, charged and convicted under Sosma since it came into force in July 2012, adding the government must enact legislation to compensate those who have been wrongfully detained.

Saifuddin had yesterday indicated that Sosm would not be reviewed because “the law allows the court process to take place”.

The newly minted home minister said the law differed from the defunct Internal Security Act, which allowed for detention without trial, and the emergency ordinances (EO), which allowed for detention of up to 60 days.

Sub-section 4(5) of Sosma enables the police to detain a person suspected of terrorism for no more than 28 days for investigation.
 
Former Petaling Jaya MP Maria Chin Abdullah said Saifuddin has ignored the fact that Sosma breeds and institutionalises injustice.

“The minister forgets that section 30 (of the law) provides for extremely unfair treatment whereby the detainee can be kept in prison until after all trials and appeals are completed,” Chin said. – December 14, 2022.