Preventive detention has been successful in curbing crime in the past and thus similar provisions should be included in the proposed law to replace the abolished Emergency Ordinance (EO), says former chief justice Zaki Azmi.

zaki azmi interview 140911 Speaking at a roundtable discussion at Universiti Malaya today, Zaki (left) said preventive detention was useful, such as at times when it is difficult to establish a case against a suspect.

"I can assure you that the EO was effective and crime rates went down.

"To catch a person, to identify and present evidence before a judge is not easy," he said in response to an earlier speaker Kuthubul Zaman Bukhari.

Kuthubul had asserted that the police had enough powers under the Prevention of Crime Act 1959, which allows the force to detain suspects for 24 hours.

"When the EO came into force, the police found that it to be easier to use the EO than the (Prevention of Crime Act)," retorted Zaki.

Zaki conceded that the EO was designed to handle problems arising from the May 13 riots and that it could be misused.

However, he said that his experience showed otherwise.

"I can safely say, in my heart, I have not recommended detention of any person who is innocent. My conscience is very clear. Only God knows," Zaki said.

Accountability

His position on the EO drew criticism from other participants.

election monitoring group pemantau bersih Bar Council human rights committee chairperson Andrew Khoo ( right ) told the session that the police force resources were misallocated and the police were bogged down their abilities to deal with crime efficiently.

Khoo said data available indicated that the Criminal Investigation Department's budget had remained stagnant for the past four years while there was an exponential increase in the budget for the  Internal Security and Public Order Divisions, better known as the Special Branch, during the same period.

Lawyers for Liberty co-founder Eric Paulsen told Malaysiakini after the session that all laws that deal with detention require accountability.

"You can't say give me all the powers and say: 'Trust me, I won't abuse it'," Paulsen said.

The roundtable discussion was organised by the Association for the Promotion of Human Rights (Proham) and was attended by 35 participants comprising human rights activists, a former police officer and lawyers, among others.

The findings and recommendations of the roundtable session will submitted to the Home Ministry and the inspector-general of police.