FEBRUARY 14 — After justifying the keeping of the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 (Sosma) in Parliament on Thursday (Feb 13), Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has reportedly directed Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution to review and “improve” Sosma, a law that human rights groups have described as draconian.
Let’s be clear that Sosma has been described as draconian by not just human rights groups, but members of the Madani government.
One of them is Digital Minister Gobind Singh Deo. He was Selangor DAP chairman when he criticised Saifuddin as the latter attempted to justify Sosma by saying it allowed judicial oversight unlike preventive detention laws such as the Internal Security Act (ISA) and the Emergency Ordinance.
Gobind called Saifuddin’s defence of Sosma as “at odds” with Pakatan Harapan’s (PH) position on the matter. Joining critics of the law, Gobind urged Saifuddin to reconsider his position and asked him to review and make “the necessary changes” to Sosma.
“Whilst we accept that there is a need for laws to deal with the security of the nation, we cannot deny the fact that Sosma is oppressive in nature,” he said in a statement.
“In fact, in October 2019, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim himself is reported to have said that certain parts of Sosma should be amended and improved for the benefit of all parties, as the law has been deemed ‘too harsh’,” he added.
Gobind went on to list several issues with Sosma including Section 4 of the Act, which allowed the police to detain a person up to 28 days without trial.
One of the main issues is that Sosma, unlike the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC), does not provide for a judicial authority, like a magistrate, to be satisfied that following the arrest and detention of a person for a period of 24 hours for the purpose of investigation, the extension of the period of detention for up to 28 days is necessary for the purpose of investigation.
Section 4(5) of Sosma only requires “a police officer of or above the rank of Superintendent of Police [to] extend the period of detention for a period of not more than twenty-eight days, for the purpose of investigation.”
This is one area where reform to Sosma is necessary. Under a like legislation in the UK, a judicial authority must be satisfied that an extended detention is necessary to:
- obtain or preserve relevant evidence;
- permit the completion of an examination or analysis of any relevant matter with a view to obtaining evidence; and
- the investigation connected with the detention is being conducted diligently and expeditiously. [see Terrorism Act 2000 c. 11, sch. 8 part 3 (as amended)]
In response to Saifuddin’s defence of Sosma, I had also written of the necessity to reform Sosma. A responsible government should be able to see that a 28-day detention without judicial oversight is oppressive.
“PM had asked for Sosma to be reviewed and studied. God-willing, the home affairs minister will appear in Parliament to explain,” said Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil at the weekly post-Cabinet meeting media briefing.
Cross fingers that Saifuddin will explain a long-delayed review of Sosma.
* This is the personal opinion of the writers or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail.
