“Just another day” was what Pandan MP Rafizi Ramli said after he was found guilty under the Official Secrets Act (OSA). What happened was, he leaked one page from the 1MDB audit report and that page is classified as a government secret. There you go, moral of the story - we have to play by the rules, OSA is the law and so you have to play smart; the law says no leaking of government secret and if you leak it you go to jail, period.

And then my friend says this, “This is unfair la! That Umno Jamal red-shirt guy did worse and still he is running around the country.”

Ladies and gentlemen, we have Datuk Jamal Md Yunos. (See, I am introducing him like Anil Kapoor introduces ‘Jamal Malik’ in the film ‘Slumdog Millionaire’). Yes, Jamal is still around and recently he was punched on his face while the police officers were stopping him from biting other citizens. If you watch the videos online, police officers while “advising” him not to harm others, were respectfully calling him “Datuk... datuk, jangan, datuk...”

Saturday is approaching, which means Bersih 5 is approaching; Jamal said he will summon more of his crew and go against the Bersih rally on that day. He said he and his macai “will do anything, even it means bloodshed”. Many are worried because if the red-shirts apply their powerful silat or Thai-boxing on the yellow-shirts while the yellow-shirts are peacefully assembling... I’ll leave the rest to your imagination.

Another friend of mine says, “Very easy la, tangkap Jamal and put him under police custody, then release him after this coming weekend la! No Jamal, no red-shirts rally, there’ll be only Bersih rally, then no more silat here and there. Gao dim la!”

I looked at him with my eyes wide open, his brilliant idea astounded me and others were flabbergasted too. Really, even our inspector-general of police (IGP) Khalid Abu Bakar who appears so smart on Twitter, never thought about this option; Jamal was arrested, and he was released on police bail, remember?

But is it possible to detain Jamal for so long?

It is possible. The IGP could have done it by detaining Jamal under Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 (‘Sosma’). The Royal Malaysian Police (PDRM) can first, without warrant, arrest Jamal under section 4(1) of Sosma for allegedly involving in/attempting to commit security offences. Then, the IGP can, under subsection (5), extend Jamal’s detention beyond this weekend.

Jamal can shout big and say he wasn’t involved in any security offences because whatever he has done or going to do is to protect his country, for himself, for Bangsa Melayu and so on.

Suspected of committing offence under Section 124B and 124C?

Regardless of his grandmother story, Jamal by leading the red-shirt rally is suspected to have committed an offence under Section 124B of the Penal Code as committing an ‘activity detrimental to parliamentary democracy’. And for him declaring war against Bersih and everybody, that could fall under section 124C of the Penal Code as “attempts to commit an activity detrimental to parliamentary democracy”.

Jamal’s red-shirt rally has allegedly undermined parliamentary democracy through violent and unconstitutional means, and these provisions in Penal Code allow Sosma to be utilised against Jamal.

Jamal and his macai allegedly injured innocent lives and property. They are said to be disrupting public order. They are violently threatening national peace and security internally. Therefore, the IGP could invoke Sosma and arrest Jamal.

Many said “Padan muka” when Jamal was said to have been punched by his own macai accidentally (if you watch the videos in slow motion) and suffered from a nosebleed. But many say Jamal deserves more suffering. So, upon Jamal’s arrest, the IGP should extend Jamal’s detention for the full 28 days without trial because police investigation takes time and PDRM is very efficient.

After 28 days, for the purpose of maintaining public order, an electronic monitoring device should be attached to Jamal upon his release. All these procedures are permissible under Sosma, even before Jamal is convicted.

Jamal may shout unfair, inhumane, and claim that Penal Code and Sosma are bad laws because they are too wide and vague, and detention without trial violates human rights, etc. At that time, we can remind Jamal this - the law is the law, he didn’t play by the rules, so too bad la!

MARCUS LEE is a final year law student at Universiti Malaya and is a student representative in the UM Students Council.