PUTRAJAYA, Dec 15 — Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 (Sosma) could be amended based on needs and situation.
He said while every piece of legislation is dynamic and not every law is perfectly structured, it should not be reviewed for the time being.
“However, if you ask me, if it (Sosma) needs to be reviewed now, my answer would be no. Maybe it could be reviewed in future and cater to current needs (of the time).
“The Act is not perfect and there are few sections that I have carefully gone through, where some could be amended,” he told a press conference after a special briefing with People's Volunteer Corps (Rela) at the Home Ministry today.
He was responding to DAP deputy chairman Gobind Singh Deo's criticism yesterday, calling Sosma “at odds” with Pakatan Harapan’s (PH) position on the matter.
Saifuddin, the PKR secretary-general also stressed that he had never mentioned that Sosma needs to be reviewed immediately.
“I have never mentioned that it needs to be reviewed, what I said is that it is dynamic and could be catered to current situations,” he said.
In an interview last night, Saifuddin stressed that the Sosma Act was necessary in managing organised crime-related cases, especially when it comes large number of arrests of involving serious offences.
Yesterday, when asked by reporters if the new government would review the Sosma, Saifuddin defended it by saying it allowed judicial oversight unlike preventive detention laws such as the Internal Security Act (ISA) and the Emergency Ordinance.
This is despite PH MPs voting against a motion brought by the previous home minister to extend the effective period of Section 4(5) of Sosma for another five years, in Parliament on March 23 — although the motion was passed later in July with the agreement of 111 MPs.
