I refer to the Strategic Trade Bill passed by our Dewan Rakyat on April 5, which aims to curb the trafficking through our country the materials, equipment and know-how for the development of weapons of mass destruction.  

The move to enable Malaysia, in the words of Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Nazri Abdul Aziz, to ‘cooperate with the world to fight terrorism’ is laudable and in line with legislation already in force in many countries towards this end.

However, I am concerned about Clause 36 of the Bill, which states:

‘An authorised officer may arrest without warrant any person whom he reasonably believes has committed or is attempting to commit an offence under this Act’.

The Bill is silent about the length of detention or the rights of the person detained in such manner. To me, there are strong echoes of the Internal Security Act here.  

A check on similar legislation in Singapore, whose Strategic Goods (Control) Act came into force in 2001, showed a much better representation of civil rights. Clause 21 of their Act gives the authorities the power to arrest without warrant but goes on to stipulate the following:

- Where the authorised officer or senior authorised officer makes an arrest without warrant, he shall, without unnecessary delay, produce the person arrested before a magistrate.

- The authorised officer or senior authorised officer shall not detain in custody a person arrested without a warrant for a longer period than is reasonable under the circumstances of the case.

- Such period shall not exceed 48 hours, excluding the time for any necessary journey to the Magistrate’s Court.

I believe we must work in such provisions in our Strategic Trade Bill.  We must avoid another ISA. We can protect our country and we can protect the world without stripping away the fundamental rights of the individual.