“It’s easy to to bring a case to court, but it’s difficult (to get a conviction) because it requires evidence and in some national security cases, it’s hard to obtain,” said Hanif, who served as the inspector-general of police for two decades before retiring in 1994.
Sosma, passed in 2016 amid protests from then opposition Pakatan Harapan, is among laws that the coalition, now in power in Putrajaya, had promised to repeal.
Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad recently confirmed that the government would go ahead abolishing Sosma, widely seen as a replacement for the Internal Security Act (ISA).
The law allows police to detain a person for a maximum of 28 days, while delaying his access to family and legal counsel for up to 48 hours after being arrested.
Hanif said the government must now develop a law that he said could deal with complex national security cases.