The Prevention of Terrorism Bill 2015 (Pota) contains provisions for indefinite detention without trial that cannot be challenged in court.

 

Suspects can be initially detained for up to 59 days before the matter is brought before the Prevention of Terrorism Board, which can then impose a maximum two years detention period.

 

Following this, the detention period can be renewed.

 

Alternatively, a person may be placed under a curfew and various restrictions imposed for up to five years, which can also be renewed indefinitely.

 

Among the restrictions that may be imposed at the board’s discretion include curfews, restrictions on the use of communications devices, including an explicit ban on internet access, and restriction on where the person may live or travel.

 

The travel restrictions may confine a person within boundaries that can be as large as a state or as small as a village, unless with written permission from the state police chief.

 

However, the board has the power to decide if the detention has reasonable grounds and direct a person to be set free if deemed necessary.

 

Like the now-repealed Internal Security Act 1960 (ISA), the law also prevents such detentions from being scrutinised by the courts by means of judicial review or habeas corpus (show cause) applications.

Three-year terms

The board comprises a chairperson, deputy chairperson and three to six other members, all of whom would be appointed by the Yang Di-Pertuan Agong, to serve three-year terms.

 

The chairperson needs to have legal qualifications and have at least 15 years of experience in the field, but the proposed law does not specify the criteria of other members.

 

The Bill was tabled by Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi ( right ), alongside the Special Measures Against Terrorism in Foreign Countries Bill 2015.

 

Meanwhile, his deputy Wan Junaidi Jaafar tabled amendments to the Prisons Act, Penal Code, Prevention of Crime Act, Criminal Procedure Code, and Security Offences (Special Measures) Act today.

 

Previously, the ISA had been slammed as a draconian law as it allowed for two-year detentions without trial that can be extended indefinitely, away from the scrutiny of the courts.

 

Critics of the law argued that it has been used to stifle political dissent, and some offormer detainees such as Gelang Patah MP Lim Kit Siang, Batu MP Tian Chua ( below ) and Ahmad Zahid are now elected representatives.

 

The proposed Pota appears to have a safeguard against a repeat of such abuses under Section 4(3), which states that no person shall be arrested or detained under the law solely for his political activities or beliefs.

 

This is defined as “engaging in lawful activity through the expression of an opinion or the pursuit of a course of action made according to the tenets of a political party” that is registered with the Registrar of Societies.

 

Meanwhile, Pota also imposes a longer remand period than most laws – up to 21 days, which can then be extended up to another 38 days.

 

In contrast, the remand period of most offences is only a week at most, after one extension by a magistrate.

 

At the end of a remand under Pota or any time before that, a suspect would be brought to the Sessions Court where the police may apply for the person to be released but under police supervision or a bond for up to 59 days, with the attachment of an electronic monitoring device on the person.

 

Alternatively, the police may inform the court that they do not intend to bring the suspect to Prevention of Terrorism Board, upon which he would be released.