KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 21 — Preventive detention laws are necessary to protect society so that people are not forced to seek protection from crime syndicates, former federal CID chief Tan Sri Zaman Khan said today.

Zaman (picture) also noted that it is difficult to prosecute organised criminals as many are afraid of testifying against them.

“We don’t want you to be protected by thugs; we want you to be protected by the law,” said Zaman at the forum on ‘A Case for Preventive Detention?’ organised by the Bar Council National Young Lawyers Committee here today.

“People are scared to give evidence...they’re afraid to go to court,” he added.

Zaman noted that Chinese secret societies were “very well-organised”, while Indians usually formed gangs “open to violence”. Malays, however, did not appear to have secret societies.

“All societies survive on prostitution, protection money,” he said.

The former top cop also said that the Internal Security Act (ISA) and the Emergency Ordinance 1969 - both of which allowed for detention without trial and have now been abolished - were two laws that “saved the country”.

The EO, which Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak repealed in 2011 to promote civil liberties, had been enacted after the bloody 1969 race riots.

But the police and the Home Ministry have championed for its return, which they say is necessary to arrest a recent spike in violent crimes and shootings.

Home Minister Datuk Seri Zahid Hamidi has asserted that the release of 2,600 detainees previously held under the EO has led to 260,000 criminals roaming the streets.

Suhakam commissioner Dr Khaw Lake Tee, however, expressed at today’s forum her concerns of abuse of preventive detention laws.

She said that the EO’s main purposes were to protect public order and to prevent violent crimes, but noted that the law had been used to arrest gambling and arson suspects.

“Suddenly, the EO is much broader,” said Khaw.

“Preventive detention is not safe in this country when there’s no judicial review,” added the human rights official.

She also questioned if people felt safe before the EO was abolished, saying: “We haven’t felt safe for a long, long time.”

The police are now using another colonial-era law, the Prevention of Crime Act (PCA) 1959, which allows suspects to be detained without trial for 72 days, and have arrested nearly 5,000 suspected gang members in a nationwide operation.

“The preamble very clearly stated it’s for the prevention of organised crimes and very violent crimes. It is not meant to be used for...snatch theft, petty theft,” said Khaw, referring to the PCA.

But Dr P. Sundramoorthy, criminologist from Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), expressed his support for preventive detention laws.

He noted that there has been no firearm murders since the 1970s until before the past 18 months.

“I’m willing to give up my liberty for the sake of safety,” Sundramoorthy told the forum.