The accusation against the Prevention of Crime Act (Poca), describing it as draconian and not very far from the Internal Security Act (ISA), is untrue, said Deputy Home Minister Nur Jazlan Mohamed.

Nur Jazlan said this was because Poca would provide more secure rights to the detainees compared to the ISA.

“In the past, under the ISA, the minister had the full power, with a signature of a minister, an individual can be detained for up to 60 days and the minister can also issue detention orders.

“However, with Poca, the authorities can apply for remand twice, which is at the 21st and the 38th days,” he said when winding up the debate on the Prevention of Crime (Amendment) Bill 2017 at the Dewan Negara sitting today.

The bill was later passed.

The amendments, among others, aimed at speeding up the decision-making process by the Crime Prevention Board on a certain case and facilitating the management of the board's duties as well as giving the authorisation to the board to instruct the investigation officer to accelerate the preparation of the report.

The amended Poca also implemented the use of the electronic monitoring device on those under watch, hence reducing the cost of detention in prison and also promoting the spirit of prevention among the detainees.

The Dewan Negara sitting continues tomorrow.

- Bernama