KUALA LUMPUR (Apr 7): A global human rights body has criticised the passing of a new anti-terrorism law, saying that it fears government agents can now use the threat of indefinite detention that is in the law to quash dissent.
Human Rights Watch said the Prevention of Terrorism Act 2015 (Pota) has re-opened the “Pandora's Box for politically motivated, abusive state actions” that had been a feature when Putrajaya used the former Internal Security Act (ISA).
“It fundamentally calls into question the government's commitment to basic rights that are critical to the rule of law in a functioning democracy,” said Phil Robertson, the group’s Asia division deputy director, in a statement today.
The Pota was passed today after a lengthy debate in the Dewan Rakyat that stretched until 2.25am, as opposition politicians attempted to defeat the bill which brings back detention without trial.
Its critics fear that the law could be used against legitimate political activists, which is what happened when previous Barisan Nasional administrations used the ISA, which was revoked in 2012.
Like the defunct security act, the Pota empowers authorities to detain suspects without trial and disallow judicial reviews on such decisions by a Prevention of Terrorism Board.
Suspects can be first detained a maximum of 59 days (including the initial remand period), before being brought to the board, which can then order further detention of up to two years.
Following this, the detention period can be renewed if the board decides there are reasonable grounds. It can also direct a person to be set free if it deemed necessary.
The bill does not allow any judicial review in any court, noting that no court shall have jurisdiction over decisions by the board in its discretionary power.
“By stripping accused persons of the right to trial in a court, access to legal counsel, and other legal protections if they are accused under the very broad provisions of this law, the government is continuing its slide into rights-abusing rule,” Robertson said. – The Malaysian Insider