Who will new anti-terror law be used against, MPs ask

KUALA LUMPUR, March 18 — Putrajaya must come clean on whether its proposed Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA) will be used against Malaysians, as it would have “very far reaching implications”, a PAS lawmaker said today.

Kuala Terengganu MP Datuk Raja Kamarul Bahrin Shah Raja Ahmad said it is worrying that members of the Dewan Rakyat are still in the dark about the proposed law and when the federal government plans to table it during this current meeting.

“They said the ISA was for communists, not politicians. Yet they used it on politicians,” he said at a news conference at the Parliament lobby, referring to the now defunct Internal Security Act.

“We have requested for enough time to deliberate and study the proposed Act. We would like to know if it is going to be applicable to Malaysians,” he added.

Earlier this month, Home Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi dismissed human rights concerns surrounding POTA, arguing that the country’s safety was the federal government’s top priority.

Ahmad Zahid stressed that the proposed Act is needed as it is preventive in nature as opposed to existing laws that are punitive.

PKR’s Kelana Jaya MP Wong Chen today said it is a “travesty of justice” for the federal government not to give MPs a copy of the proposed Act before it is tabled in Parliament, claiming that there was not even any public consultation carried out.

“They have the bill but they don’t give it to us. They only give it to use at the last minute. By tomorrow, we demand that the bill be produced online so we have enough time to go through it,” he said.

The proposed law was first announced in November last year, when Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak tabled a White Paper in Parliament titled “Addressing the threat of Islamic State”.

Home Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi was later reported as saying by Utusan Malaysia that the law will include provisions for indefinite detention without trial.

Critics are concerned that the new law resembles the Internal Security Act, which was repealed in 2012, particularly over elements of arbitrary detention.

They also stressed that preventive detention powers could jeopardise the criminal justice system in the long run with no guarantee on the effectiveness in addressing extremism and violent ideologies.