Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said the government will propose changes in the law to allow material gleaned online to be used as evidence against suspected terrorists in court.

"Right now (material obtained from the social media) cannot be used as hard evidence to bring perpetrators to court," Zahid said at a press conference today.

He said this could be done either through amending existing laws or introducing new anti-terrorist laws.

Zahid said that his ministry is urging the attorney-general to boost the "preventive aspects" of existing laws.

He added that the Home Ministry is also proposing new legislation to curb funding for suspected terrorist activities.

 

However, he assured that Putrajaya will not return to the old days in which powers concerning such laws were placed solely in the hands of the home minister.

 

"The template that will be used is similar to the Prevention of Crime Act 1959 (PCA) which does not put the executive power solely in the hands of the home minister," he said.

 

The PCA was amended is September last year to re-introduce detention without trial after the repeal of the Internal Security Act (ISA).

 

However, unlike the ISA, which allows the minister to issue a detention order with no recourse, the PCA requires any detention order to be vetted by a five-person panel and is subject to judicial review.

Despite the safeguards, human rights activists labeled the PCA amendment ' ISA 2.0 '.

 

They claimed the provision’s wide reach restricts free movement, freedom of expression, and the freedom to assemble, organise and own property.