KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 26 — Putrajaya does not need to enact a new preventive detention law to deal with terrorism, an opposition lawmaker said today, insisting that sufficient legal safeguards exist in the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 (Sosma).
Sosma, said PKR’s Padang Serai MP N. Surendran, is already “very powerful and harsh by global standards” as suspects held under the Act can be held for up to 28 days without trial.
He said by comparison, the 28-day detention period is the longest among other similar legislation in the United States, Australia or the United Kingdom.
“Ironically, the above Western countries face a vastly greater danger from terrorism than does Malaysia,” he said in a statement today.
Last month, Deputy Home Minister Datuk Seri Wan Junaidi Jaafar said that there are no laws to combat terrorism in Malaysia effectively following the Charlie Hebdo massacre in Paris, France, on January 7.
In the incident, three suspected terrorists descended on the office of satirical French weekly and gunned down 12 people, including the magazine’s staff and police officers, over the publication’s provocative depictions of Prophet Muhammad.
The deputy minister added that the new law - which is slated to be tabled in Parliament in March - should include preventive detention, punishment and evidential rules, special courts and procedures, and counselling.
But Surendran argued today that the reasoning is flawed, and accused Putrajaya of resorting to use the Paris incident as an excuse to pass new laws to restrict civil liberties.
“To manipulate a tragic incident for narrow domestic political reasons is sickening and unforgivable,” he said.
“Why the BN’s (Barisan Nasional) rush to bring in harsher laws when it is in fact not required to tackle the problem of terrorism?
“What is BN’s real agenda?” Surendran asked.
The MP also pointed out that anti-terrorism laws in the UK and in Australia only allow detention of suspects for up to 14 days.
In the US, he added, no citizen can be detained beyond 48 hours for any terrorism related offence.
“BN leaders are fond of misleading the public that the US’ Patriot Act allows preventive detention but the Patriot Act only allows detention of non-citizens for up to seven day… whereas, in Guantanamo Bay - another favourite target of BN leaders - only allows military detention of foreign nationals as enemy combatants,” he added.
Surendran, who is also a civil liberties lawyer, added that although the US is a frequent target of terror attacks, it does not allow preventive detention of citizens for national security reasons.
As such, he insisted, that Putrajaya calls off its plans to table the new anti-terror law here.
