AUTHORITIES must take urgent action to review cases booked under the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act (Sosma) due to its draconian nature, said Anwar Ibrahim today.

The incoming PKR president said the treatment of detainees who were held under Sosma was much worse than that suffered by former Internal Security Act (ISA) detainees.

He added that while he was in the Sg Buloh Prison undergoing his sodomy conviction, he had witnessed how Sosma detainees were denied their rights, including denial of having family visits and legal access.

“While I don’t want to compromise on the issue of crime and violence, we must also act fairly.

“We must respect the due process, and from what I have witnessed in Sg Buloh Prison, Sosma detainees suffered bad treatment as a result of the law.

“I think we should take immediate action. The authorities, especially the police, must have a relook at these Sosma cases,” he said at the launch of Anwar Returns: The Final Twist book today.

Sosma was passed by the previous Barisan Nasional government in 2012 to provide special measures relating to security offences to maintain public order and security. The Act replaced the Internal Security Act.

Yesterday, Attorney-General Tommy Thomas said Sosma will be abolished as promised by the Pakatan Harapan government, but it will take some time.

Earlier today, Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Mohamed Hanipa Maidin said he supported the proposal to abolish Sosma as it was a form of tyranny.

He also revealed that a special committee had been set up to study the law.

Some 118 Sosma detainees in the Sg Buloh Prison started a hunger strike last night urging the government to abolish the Act. They ended their protest today after their representatives met Hanipa. – August 26, 2018.