(Aug 14): Being arrested under Section 124B of the Penal Code can automatically land you in jail for 28 days, warns a human rights lawyer, as Putrajaya increasingly uses the new law against its critics.

Syahredzan Johan said Section 124B falls under Chapter 6 of the Penal Code which deals with offences against the state such as waging war against the Yang Di-Pertuan Agong and terrorism.

The section states that anyone carrying out, by any means, directly or indirectly, any “activity detrimental to parliamentary democracy”, can be jailed up to 20 years if convicted.

The police are given the power to use the Security Offences Special Measures Act 2012, or Sosma, which is originally meant for terrorists and militants, for Chapter 6 offences, said Syahredzan, who co-chairs the Bar Council's National Young Lawyers Committee.

Among the provisions under Sosma is that suspects can be detained for investigation for up to 28 days and can be denied bail after being charged.

But the nightmare does not stop there, he said.

“The misery is in the trial itself because Sosma allows prosecutors to use secret witnesses to testify against the accused and they don’t have to tender exhibits,” Syahredzan told a forum titled "Section 124B: An affront to parliamentary democracy" last night.

To date, police have not used Sosma on any of the activists, politicians and anti-graft officers currently being investigated under Section 124B.

Rights activists have decried the police’s use of Section 124B in the past few months.

Among those being investigated under Section 124B are activists involved in the upcoming Bersih 4 rally, and MPs who have been vocal over the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) financial scandal.

Several Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) officers are also being investigated under Section 124B for supposedly leaking information related to their 1MDB probe.

Like the Sedition Act, Syahredzan said the vagueness of the terms in the law, such as what actually constitutes “acts detrimental to parliamentary democracy”, made it vulnerable to abuse.

“There are no safeguards in the law. The only safeguard is that the government tells you to trust them, that they will not abuse it,” he said.

The problem, Syahredzan added, is the government did the same thing with the now defunct Internal Security Act (ISA), the draconian law meant against Communist militants during the emergency 40 years ago.

Throughout his reign from 1981 to 2003, former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad's administration used ISA against activists, parliamentarians and politicians

“The fact that it is arbitrary enough that the authorities can use the law to arrest people shows that the purpose is to intimidate. Malaysians must not allow this climate of fear and must speak up,” Syahredzan said. – The Malaysian Insider