KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 12 — Preventive detention laws would scarcely make a difference if 260,000 criminals are indeed roaming Malaysia’s streets, DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng has said following Home Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi’s assertion yesterday.
In his pitch for the return of powers to detain individuals without trial, Zahid was quoted by Umno-owned Mingguan Malaysia yesterday as saying the 2,600 detainees freed after the repeal of the Emergency Ordinance have each gone on to create gangs of their own, resulting in an army of 260,000 criminals roaming the streets.
Today, Lim (picture) poured doubt over the veracity of the home minister’s numbers.
“[If] Ahmad Zahid Hamidi is correct that there are now 260,000 criminals roaming Malaysian streets, then resuscitating Emergency Ordinance(EO)-like laws will not help the police, but the Malaysian Army and United Nations Peacekeeping Force are necessary to help police face this army of 260,000 criminals,” Lim said in a statement.
He pointed out that with Zahid’s estimates, even the combined strength of the Royal Malaysia Police of 112,583 and Armed Forces, at 124,000 personnel, would not suffice to even the odds.
“This number is shocking coming from a home minister and his maths in counting the number of criminals is not only suspect but considered outrageously exaggerated,” Lim added.
He also said Zahid’s figures also made it more perplexing that just 10,150 or 9 per cent of the police force are directly responsible for crime fighting, and repeated his previous call for at least 50 per cent of manpower be dedicated for the purpose.
The Bagan MP added that giving the police so few men to combat crime has opened the force to unwarranted public criticism.
“Is Ahmad fair to the police who are now questioned for failing to protect the public when the police are at times restricted to such non-essential duties by focusing not on criminals, but on law-abiding elected representatives who happen to be from the opposition?”
Putrajaya had abolished the EO and the Internal Security Act (ISA) 1960, both of which allowed for preventive detention without trial, a feature that has been criticised by its detractors for allegedly infringing on human rights.
Zahid and Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar had previously stirred controversy when they indicated that the return of preventive detention laws would help the police carry out their crime-fighting duties more effectively.
Last month, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak told the police he was prepared to consider “anything” it needed to rein in the crime menace, including new legislation, but he also gave his assurance that his administration would be “mindful” of human rights when drafting new laws to combat crime.
Opposition lawmakers, however, insist that no new laws were necessary to address the nation’s crime problem that they say can be tackled by deploying more than just 9 per cent of the police force directly towards crime fighting.
