KUALA LUMPUR, March 23 — The motion to extend the enforcement of sub-section 4(5) of the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act (Sosma) 2012 was not passed in the Dewan Rakyat today.
Through a bloc vote called by the Opposition bloc, a total of 86 Opposition MPs voted against the extension versus 84 from the ruling bloc who supported it.
“For the motion tabled earlier by the home minister, those who were in favour 84, those not in favour 86, not present 50.
“The motion that was tabled earlier is not passed,” Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Azhar Azizan Harun told the floor today.
The motion proposed earlier sought an extension of enforcement of the 28-day detention period under Sub-section 4(5) of Sosma for another five years starting from July 31, 2022.
According to the law, sub-section 4(5), the 28-day detention period, must be reviewed every five years and will cease to have an effect unless both Houses of Parliament agree to extend the period.
Sub-section 4(5) was first enforced on July 31, 2012, and renewed for the first time in 2017.
The bloc vote on the motion was allowed by Deputy Dewan Rakyat Speaker Datuk Ramli Mohd Nor after DAP’s Teluk Intan MP Nga Kor Ming stood up to ask for a bloc vote to be conducted, in accordance with Standing Order 46 (4).
At least 15 MPs must be present when a division vote is called by the bloc that made the request.
Following that, the Dewan Rakyat was adjourned for 10 minutes after the bell rang for two minutes, before the voting process began.
Among those who objected to the motion was DAP’s Batu Kawan MP Kasthuriraani Patto who said there are laws that exist today in Malaysia which are sufficient to investigate, prosecute and convict any offender.
“If Sosma needs to be amended, it can be brought to the Parliamentary Select Committee and also the Legal Affairs Division so that the principle of justice ‘innocent until proven guilty’ becomes the backbone of this meeting.
“This Sosma Act overlaps with other legal jurisdictions that have existed for so long. Why should this law exist anymore?” she said during her turn to debate the motion.
She also reminded the Lower House that Sosma’s background included detention without trial, the concept of arrest first and finding evidence later and no bail for detainees.
She went on to cite the case of Mohd Zulkifl Shafiei in 2018, when he sent RM200 to an old acquaintance who was in need through online banking.
“He was detained under Sosma on charges of ‘channelling funds for terror purposes’.
“Within 23 days of being investigated by Special Branch police, he was told that his acquaintance had been gazetted as a ‘terrorist’ so he was accused of ‘channelling funds for terror purposes’ even though he insisted he never engaged in terrorist activities.
“Maria Chin Abdullah (Petaling Jaya MP, and former Bersih 2.0 activist) was detained in November 2016 under Sosma for nine days and placed in solitary confinement for 11 days.
“A patriot who wanted an electoral system of an international standard fell victim to the greed and tyranny of the government at the time as she was seen as a threat. This is the reaction and action of the government to those who speak up against it,” she said.
She also pointed out that in 2019, 12 people, including two DAP assemblymen, were arrested under Sosma on charges of involvement with the LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) which was already “defunct”. The detainees were held under Sosma for 135 days but released in February 2020.
DAP’s Puchong MP Gobind Singh Deo then stood up to speak in support of his Opposition colleagues’ concerns of “power abuse”.
He said that he wanted the government to put in place specific mechanisms that allow an arrested person to be brought before a magistrate or a non-police or independent body should there be a complaint over possible abuse of power or misuse of provisions.
“If a person is detained for 28 days, there is no chance of being brought before a magistrate, where he can lodge a complaint over an abuse of power and so on.
“Then, after 28 days, he continues to be detained, with no guarantee that the case will be raised a year after that. So we look at it from that angle, at least there is an avenue.
“I ask the government to see if we can find a specific mechanism so that maybe in 14 days, it is brought to the magistrate for extended detention and so on. That is the aspect I want to see,” he said.
Several other Opposition MPs, namely DAP’s Bukit Gelugor MP Ramkarpal Singh, DAP’s Ipoh Barat MP M Kulasegaran, PKR’s Sungai Buloh MP Sivarasah Kumar, Amanah’s Sepang MP Mohamed Hanipa Maidin and Amanah’s Shah Alam MP Khalid Abdul Samad had also called for Sosma to be repealed entirely on top of objecting to the extension of sub-section 4(5).
Hamzah however strongly rejected calls to repeal the Act, citing current situations involving crimes that require the Act.
“If you are talking about an amendment, we can discuss this later... but I will not repeal Sosma,” he said during his winding-up speech in reply to questions and suggestions offered by the Opposition MPs.
He added that claims of power abuse and misuse of the Act, specifically sub-section 4(5) were merely perceptions, and told the Opposition MPs not to object to the extension based on this.
He also gave his word that none would be arrested under sub-section 4(3) which stated that no person shall be arrested and detained under this section solely due to their political beliefs or political activities.
“So there is nothing to worry about, all you YBs, of any concerns arising with regards to the misuse of Sosma,” said Hamzah.
Earlier, Hamzah said parties who do not agree with the Sosma 2012 are those who want to make room for criminals and terrorists to dominate the country.
The minister said this applied to those who did not support the motion to extend sub-section 4(5) in the Act.
He stressed that among other reasons, without the extension of sub-section 4(5) and the total detention of 28 days retained, the quality of police investigations would likely be affected because they would be done in a hurry.
