Kuala Lumpur: The extension of a provision under the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 (Sosma) that allows for a 28-day detention period has been passed by the Dewan Rakyat.
Home Minister Hamzah Zainudin had earlier re-tabled the motion to extend a pre-trial detention clause of Sosma after it was voted down during the last parliamentary sitting. It was passed after 111 MPs voted in favour and 88 against, with the remaining 21 MPs absent.
Last week, Hamzah tabled a motion to revoke the House’s previous decision not to extend the clause. It was passed after 105 MPs voted in favour and 83 against, with the remaining 32 MPs absent.
This paved the way for him to re-table the motion to extend sub-section 4(5) of Sosma for another five years.
In March, Hamzah had tabled the same motion but it was defeated, with 85 MPs voting in favour and 86 against. The remaining 49 MPs were absent.
Sub-section 4(5) of Sosma, which enables police to detain a person suspected of being involved in terrorist activities for a period not exceeding 28 days for investigations, is set to expire on July 31.
The extension was passed after a tense debate, with the opposition MPs voicing their objections and pointing out that the 28-day detention period was inhumane.
Maria Chin Abdullah (PH-Petaling Jaya), Ramkarpal Singh (PH-Bukit Gelugor) RSN Rayer (PH-Jelutong), Salahuddin Ayub (PH-Pulai) voiced their concerns over the abuse of Sosma against activists and politicians.
They cited the detainment of Chin in 2016, as well as those of 1MDB critic Khairuddin Abu Hassan and his lawyer Matthias Chang in 2015.
Both Khairuddin and Chang were detained and charged with attempting to sabotage the country’s economy. They were released on bail after the court held that the charge under Section 124L of the Penal Code was not under Sosma.
Rayer also pointed out the case of former Gadek assemblyman G Saminathan and Seremban Jaya assemblyman P Gunasekaran who were detained under the Act for their alleged involvement with the now-defunct Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
He said the authorities were not able to provide any evidence of their alleged involvement with the terror group to justify their detention.
Hamzah guarantees no political persecution
During his winding up speech, Hamzah gave a guarantee that no one would be detained under sub-section 4(3) of the Act for their political beliefs.
“I can guarantee that we can table an amendment to repeal sub-section 4(3) in October,” he said.
Gobind then asked the minister why the Act was not amended before this if he felt that an amendment was required.
Hamzah replied: “If the amendment bill was passed (back) in March, I would have suggested an amendment.”
He also said that discussions could be held on amending sub-section 4(5) after its extension had been passed.
“That is why we have a sunset clause so that at one point, we can reduce several offences under the First Schedule of Sosma,” he added.
Gobind then questioned why amendments were not done on the sub-section despite the fact that the sunset clause started in 2012.
“That is the question. What we have here is that the government agreed that this provision is unfair and yet it is coming to this Dewan and asking us to pass something that is not fair.
“You should have brought the amendment (now), instead of a request to enforce a provision that we know is harsh and prone to abuse,” said Gobind.
