Provisions under the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act (Sosma), specifically Section 4(12)(b) and Section 4(12)(c) show how the Act cannot apply in Bersih chairperson Maria Chin Abdullah's case.

"It's very clear, in fact that’s one of the points we will be arguing in the habeas corpus," lawmaker R Sivarasa told Malaysiakini.

Sivarasa is one of the lawyers representing Maria in her habeas corpus application to challenge her detention under Sosma.

He was responding to Umno supreme council member Mohd Puad Zarkashi's justification for the use of Sosma on Maria.

Puad said critics had ignored Section 4(12)(a) of the same law which defined "political belief and activity" as the "expression of an opinion or the pursuit of a course of action made according to the tenets of a political party that is at the relevant time registered under the Societies Act 1966.

He, however, did not make any reference to Section 4(12)(b) which defined "political belief or political activity" as "the expression of an opinion directed towards any government in the federation", and Section 4(12)(c) that provided the definition as "the pursuit of a course of action directed towards any government in the federation".

Commenting further, Sivarasa stressed that Sosma could not be used to arrest a person solely for his or her political beliefs and activities.

"Puad is trying to limit it to people who belong to political parties, (but) obviously not. (This includes) anybody who is engaged in activism and advocacy.

"Maria is exactly in that position, both under Section 4(12)(b) and Section 4(12)(c). Puad is completely wrong and he knows it, that’s why he deliberately didn’t touch on Section 4(12)(b) and Section 4(12)(c)."

Police, he added, were "flagrantly violating the provisions of Sosma" by using it against Maria since they were actually intended to ensure that they will not be used in that manner.

"(The provisions are) to make it clear that they are not supposed to be used against people who engage in peaceful advocacy. It was intended for real terrorist-like activities," said the Subang MP.

Maria's arrest, he added, also raised the question of oversight over police powers.

"Where's the oversight that such blatant abuse can happen?"queried Sivarasa.

Meanwhile, lawyer Syahredzan Johan also argued how Maria fell within the ambit of Section 4(12)(b) and Section 4(12)(c) of Sosma.

"The definition of political beliefs in Section 4(12) is to be read disjunctively,” said Syahredzan.

“So for him to say that since Bersih is not a registered party thus not within ambit of 'political belief' is either misconceived or mischievous.”

Meanwhile, lawyer Baljit Singh Sidhu said Sosma could not be applied in Maria's case as the definition of Sosma itself denoted security offences.

"It all goes back to public order, what is public order? Public order affects the operations of society and the ability of people to operate efficiently.

"Here, it is basically two factions: Reds and yellow. It does not fall under public order at all, only dissenting arguments."

He said both factions gave the authorities proper notification on their intentions to rally while the police had successfully kept order during the rallies on Nov 19.

Therefore, public order, said Baljit, could not be invoked to justify the use of Sosma.

Similarly, lawyer Amer Hamzah Arshad said Puad was "misguided" in his intepretation of Sosma, noting that assembling peacefully was a constitutional right.

"As we had witnessed, it was peaceful," he said.

Having had experience handling former Internal Security Act (ISA) detainee Yazid Sufaat’s trial and a few other security offence cases in court, Amer is perhaps very much qualified to state that the use of both Section 124C of the Penal Code and Sosma against Maria was “clearly an abuse of process by the powers that be”.

“It's a deliberate act to instill fear in the hearts of the Malaysian public.”

Bersih, he said, was formed with the objectives of calling for free and fair elections and to have a clean electoral system, among others.

“Exercising the right to assemble peacefully to promote free and fair elections can never, by any stretch of the imagination, be considered or construed as an act detrimental to parliamentary democracy.

“A change of government by a legitimate process is not a threat to national security,” he stressed.

Maria was detained last Friday during the raid on Bersih's headquarters in Petaling Jaya.

She is being investigated under Section 124C of the Penal Code for engaging in activities detrimental to parliamentary democracy and was detained under Sosma, which allowed for detention without trial of up to 28 days.

According to her lawyers, Sosma should only be applied on suspected terrorists. Maria is also purportedly being placed in solitary confinement.