Three years since promising to form a committee to review the Security Offences (Safety Measures) Act 2012, Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak has failed to fulfil his promise, Political Studies for Change Institute (KPRU) said.
KPRU executive director Ooi Heng said the Hansard shows Najib promised to do twice in the Dewan Rakyat and Dewan Negara, but three years and three months later, this has yet to happen.
"While tabling the Sosma Bill on April 16, 2012, Najib said the government would form a committee to review the Act from time to time, and to recommend improvements.
"The prime minister also said at a Dewan Rakyat event the same day that 'the committee will not only be made up of government agency representatives, but also the Malaysian Bar president and National Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) representative'.
"The same guarantee was repeated by the Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Liew Vui Keong on May 8, 2012," he said.
Ooi said the Yang di-Pertuan Agong on June 18 had consented to the Sosma Bill and the legislation was subsequently gazetted as 'Act 747' and came into force on July 31, 2012.
However, the review committee is still nowhere in sight.
Yesterday, Bar Council president Steven Thiru raised the issue during a forum with former attorney-general Abdul Gani Patail.
Gani urged the Bar Council to take up the issue with the government.
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