Referring to the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 (Sosma), the Prevention of Crime Act 1959 (Poca), and the Prevention of Terrorism Act 2015 (Pota), Home Minister Muhyiddin Yassin (PH-Pagoh) said a special committee as well as a technical committee had been set up to look into the proposals forwarded in meetings with stakeholders.
“It is now at the final stage. We have come up with a draft and will forward it to the Attorney-General’s Chambers. When this is done, we will take it to the Cabinet for consideration, after which we will bring it to Parliament to be tabled.
“My job is to expedite the tabling of this review. We hope to table it in this sitting. At the very latest, we hope to have it tabled in the next sitting,” he said during the ministerial question time today.
He was responding to Maria Chin Abdullah (PH-Petaling Jaya) who had asked about the time frame for the review to be tabled in Parliament.
Muhyiddin previously said his ministry had formed a committee to look into legislation which might be against human rights.
He said the committee would look at the Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984, Sedition Act 1948, the death penalty, the Peaceful Assembly Act 2012, Poca, Sosma and Pota, among others.
To Maria’s initial question on why the government still depended on preventive detention under Sosma, Poca and Pota when the Criminal Procedure Code already allocated remand detention procedures for security offences, Muhyiddin said preventive laws were to detain criminals and terrorists for reform through a stable reform module.
The PPBM president said he was aware of human rights violations that had arisen from use of the laws.
“We are reviewing these laws for the purpose of improving them. A special task force has been set up to study the provisions in the legislation.
“Improvements will be made on the detention periods under these laws which are too long; police powers on investigation and arrest which are too broad and open to abuse as well as the limited powers for the courts to carry out judicial intervention, including a judicial review,” he said.
To Ahmad Maslan (BN-Pontian) who asked whether such laws would help keep the country safe, Muhyiddin said he could not guarantee the nation’s safety without them.
“However, we need to re-look these acts to ensure there are no oppressive elements, and that they do not go against human rights, for instance through cruelty.”
He added that there were “not too many” detainees under the three laws – about 2,000 under Sosma, 473 under Poca and nine under Pota.
Muhyiddin earlier told the Dewan Rakyat that the three acts were formed under Article 149 of the constitution to enable the authorities to bring criminals and terrorists to justice without having to go through normal court procedures.
He said this was because the normal court process required a clear burden of proof, with witnesses present for examination and cross-examination and where all evidence tendered must be admissible.
“For cases involving security offences, statements obtained by witnesses are classified intelligence and cannot be revealed in open court, to protect their safety.
“There are also instances where witnesses refuse to attend court to give their testimonies, even when they are offered protection and told that their identities will be kept under wraps – all for the sake of personal safety, and to protect their families from being threatened,” he said.