PUTPUTRAJAYA, Oct 13 — The banking sector comes under “essential services” that are vital to national security, the Attorney-General said today when explaining why a former Umno leader and his lawyer are being held using anti-terrorism law.

Justifying the use of the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act (SOSMA) 2012 to detain Datuk Seri Khairuddin Abu Hassan and lawyer Matthias Chang, Tan Sri Mohamed Apandi Ali said the two were charged under laws covering threats to sectors critical to Malaysia.

“Section 124L of the Penal Code provides that ‘whoever attempts to commit sabotage or does any act preparatory thereto shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to 15 years.’

“In this regard, Section 130a of the Penal Code defines the term ‘sabotage’ to mean an act or omission intending to cause harm, among others, to the maintenance of ‘essential services’ while the term ‘essential services’ is defined to include banking and financial services,” he said during a rare press conference at the Attorney-General’s Chambers today.

Apandi also said that the clarification was necessary to “prevent any further misleading statements”, adding that the AGC always does things by the book.

“We act strictly according to to provisions of the law,” he said as he read a press statement here.

Speaking off the cuff later, he said that the list of offences that fall under SOSMA would be expanded, depending on the circumstances.

He explained that the detention procedures under SOSMA currently can be applied to “security offences”, which include offences against the state, offences relating to terrorism, organised crime as well as offences under “Part 3a of the Anti-trafficking in Persons and Anti Smuggling of Migrants Act 2007.”

Khairuddin and Chang were jointly charged yesterday under Section 124L of the Penal Code, which was read together with Section 34, over the reports lodged against 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) with authorities in France, Hong Kong, Singapore, the UK and Switzerland.

The two could face up to 15 years’ imprisonment if convicted.

Khairuddin was detained on September 23 for 28 days under SOSMA. His lawyer, Chang, was detained later on October 8 under the same law.

Khairuddin had kicked off the international tour to solicit investigations on 1MDB following a series of reports by US-based business daily Wall Street Journal alleging dubious activities involving the state-owned firm.