PETALING JAYA, July 21 — The new law to replace the Emergency Ordinance (EO) must permit “preventive detention”, Tan Sri Abdul Rahim Noor has said, claiming the police have admitted that gangsterism is on the rise and even gone “out of control”.

After the EO repeal came into effect last year, the former Inspector-General of Police (IGP) said the police turned into mere observers, having lost their power to make arrests for the sake of crime prevention.

“They see the situation as having gone out of control. Preventive arrests cannot be made because the laws no longer permit it. Gangsterism is getting worse but they cannot keep it contained.

“It’s like they have broken wings. Things are no longer like they were before. Intelligence gathered can only be documented,” he told an interview published today on Mingguan Malaysia, the weekend edition of Malay-language daily Utusan Malaysia.

“Only once a police report is lodge can an arrest be made under Section 117 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC),” he pointed out.

As a result, Abdul Rahim claimed that index crime, particularly in the case of gangsterism, has been on the rise.

“Index crime, on the whole, dropped in the 15 months before the EO was repealed, in comparison with what happened after.

“There has been a clear rise, specifically in murder cases involving gangsterism among Indians,” he told the Malay daily.

Abdul Rahim said that the spread of gangsterism was particularly prominent in the Indian community, noting the hike in murder, theft, riot, criminal intimidation and gang robbery cases.

He pointed out that Indian gangsters have become bolder of late, even daring to don clothing that clearly denotes the identity of the gangs they belong to.

“But the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) does not understand these things,” he lamented. “They’re more interested in championing the cause of human rights.”

A-G Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail said earlier this week that he would never agree to the reintroduction of “preventive detention” in the enactment of any new law to replace the EO.

The 1969-enacted EO was introduced at the time to deal with the May 13 riots and gave the police broad powers to detain individuals indefinitely without trial.

Authorities say the law had been reserved for “hardened criminals” and organised crime, but critics claim it had since been abused and used against everyday snatch thieves, and most controversially, on opposition leaders like the six Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) members who were arrested en route to Bersih’s 2011 rally for allegedly waging a war against the King.

The Najib government moved later that year to introduce a raft of reforms that promised to widen civil liberties and the EO, apart from other preventive laws like the Internal Security Act (ISA), was among them.

When explaining the rationale for abolishing the EO last year, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said the banishment powers it had offered was rendered obsolete by technology and that police must adapt to the new reality.

But after it was removed from the country’s statute books, the authorities saw a spike in organised crime and heaped blame on the release of some 2,000 detainees who were set free.

Home Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi also reportedly said that statistics from a recent study showed that 90 per cent of organised crimes were carried out by the ex-detainees who were released from Simpang Renggam where they had been held under the EO.

He said the figures justified the need to revive the EO or enact fresh Acts modelled after the same preventive detention law.

“Gang fights have become more rampant, particularly in the Klang Valley. They’re killing one another. Apart from recruiting new members, they want to spread their influence and widen their turf,” Abdul Rahim told Utusan Malaysia, agreeing with Ahmad Zahid’s sentiment.

“It is difficult to control the activities of these groups since the police no longer have the power of preventive detention.”

Asked if he felt preventive detention should be reinstated in the country’s law books, Abdul Rahim strongly agreed, saying it was a “must”.

“We have seen for ourselves that violent crimes involving gangsterism have flourished since the EO was abolished. Unfortunately, the police can only watch because their hands are tied,” he explained.

“Non-governmental organisations that champion human rights and officers from the AGC do not understand this reality because their duty is not to prevent crime.

“What is important, this new Act, whatever name it is given, must have the element of preventive detention,” he added.