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BN manifesto promises special prison for Poca and Pota detainees
Published:  Apr 7, 2018 11:56 PM
Updated: 4:05 PM

BN has promised to build a special prison for detainees under the Prevention of Crime Act (Poca) and Prevention of Terrorism Act (Pota) if it wins the 14th general election.

The special prison is contained in the 220-page BN manifesto document which BN chairperson Najib Abdul Razak unveiled at Bukit Jalil Stadium tonight.

However, Najib did not mention about the prison in his speech. Najib had noted that it would take too long to list all 364 items in the BN manifesto.

According to the manifesto, the special prison can hold up to 1,000 people.

It added that the prison will be equipped with an "integrated electronic security system".

The manifesto does not specify whether the prison will only hold detainees who have been convicted or also those detained without trial.

Both Poca and Pota allow for detention without trial.

Pota was introduced in 2015 while Poca was updated in 2014 to aid in preventive enforcement in the absence of the Internal Security Act and Emergency Ordinance, both of which were repealed.

Under the old regime, those detained under now defunct Internal Security Act, comprising political prisoners, terrorists, evangelists and other detainees deemed to be a threat to national security, were sent to the Kamunting detention centre.

Those detained under now-defunct Emergency Ordinance, many of whom are gang members involved in activities such as betting syndicates and racketeering, were sent to the Simpang Renggam detention centre.

Both detention centres have since been closed down following the repeal of the ISA and Emergency Ordinance.

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