A coalition of 80 non-governmental organisations (NGOs) under the umbrella Abolish ISA Movement (AIM) today handed over to opposition members of Parliament a Private Members' Bill seeking to abolish all laws which allow for detention without trial.

Opposition leader Fadzil Noor, in receiving the bill on behalf of Barisan Alternatif (BA) MPs from AIM, said laws such as the Internal Security Act (ISA) should be repealed.

"The Act is already 41 years old and has now run amok and used to arrest political dissidents," Fadzil told reporters at the Parliament House lobby.

Drafted collectively by the NGOs representing politicians, social activists, workers' union and youth groups, the bill was presented to the MPs in conjunction with the 41st anniversary of the ISA.

The bill calls for the repeal of the 1960 ISA, 1985 Dangerous Drugs (Special Preventive Measures) Act and the 1965 Emergency (Public Order and Prevention of Crime) Ordinance 1969, all of which allow for detention without trial.

Newly appointed PRM vice-president R Sivarasa, who was present, explained that the bill was drafted to "restore the true spirit of the 1957 Federal Constitution".

"The accused should be charged in court. They are entitled to an open trial," he said.

AIM coordinator Zahir Hassan of Jemaah-Islaah Malaysia said the NGOs represented about 1.5 million Malaysians.

"We are doing this in the hope that justice and democracy prevail," he said at a press conference at the Parliament House lobby.

"This is our contribution to the country. This is our first step. We hope it will be favoured in Parliament," he added.

'Sectoral matter'

However, five minutes into the press conference, a Parliament House staff approached the group and requested them not to display anti-ISA posters and issue statements in the Parliament lobby.

"Only MPs can do this (issue statements) and please put down those posters or else we will not allow any of you in again," he said.

Malaysian Human Rights Organisation (Suaram) coordinator S Arutchelvam intervened, and told the group to abide by the staff's request after which they were allowed to complete their press conference.

Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Rais Yatim, who was handed a copy of the bill in the Parliament House lobby as he was leaving for lunch, said it was a "sectoral matter".

"I'm in the course of presenting a very important bill (constitutional amendments), perhaps you could spare me the ordeal of being involved today. Perhaps, it is incongruous for you to approach me at this moment," he said.

"But on your free volition to be heard, I'm sure we could peruse this and interject later in terms of our own findings," he added.

Rais advised the group to hand over the bill to other MPs, further saying that he had a public duty to perform this afternoon.

In June, Rais shocked the legal and judicial profession, the academia and the informed citizenry when he dismissed his book Freedom under the Executive Power in Malaysia - written six years ago for his doctoral thesis - as for "academic" purposes only.

In the preface, Rais said he wrote the book based on the "shocking ease with which the executive government sacked the judiciary" and on questions of how long "the executive continue to render subservient basic rights and innate powers of the judiciary".