This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on January 3, 2019

KUALA LUMPUR: The government’s decision to retain the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 (Sosma) and Prevention of Crime Act 2014 (Poca) goes against its election promise to review all draconian and repressive laws.

“In relation to Sosma, the Act contains provisions which are draconian and contrary to human rights and the principles of justice. As such, any amendment must remove these provisions,” reformist lawyer Syahredzan Johan said in a media statement.

He pointed out that Sosma contained a provision which allows the police to detain a suspect for 28 days without the need to obtain any remand order from the court.

“Within this period of detention, a suspect is not given access to a lawyer and will usually be pressured to make a confession,” said Syahredzan, who is political secretary to DAP adviser Lim Kit Siang.

If Sosma is amended, Syahredzan said the 28-day detention period can be retained, but only by way of a court order and not through police powers.

Apart from the wide-ranging detention powers, Syahredzan said Sosma also contains provisions that are contrary to the rules of evidence that have long been the bedrock of the criminal justice system.

“If amendments are made, these provisions must be removed in order to ensure that the Sosma detainee is given a fair trial,” he added.

While it is not impossible to amend Sosma by removing the problematic provisions, Syahredzan said such an exercise requires a total overhaul of the law.

“It is therefore easier and more prudent for the government to abolish the Act entirely and to replace it with legislation that can strike the balance between fundamental liberties and the need to combat threats to national security,” he added.

As for Poca, Syahredzan said the act allows for detention without trial, which is an affront to the rule of law and has no place in a democratic country.

Poca, he said, is a law that echoes the much criticised Internal Security Act, which was repealed in 2012.

“No amendment can be made that may ‘rescue’ Poca from being an unjust and repressive law,” he said.

He added that Poca is not needed as the authorities have the expertise and resources to probe offences relating to public order and bring perpetrators to court.

On Dec 30, Home Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said the government will keep the two security laws with some amendments in order to curb terrorism in the country.