Sosma provision likely to be retabled, says home minister
This was after the motion to extend the enforcement period for a key provision was voted down on Wednesday.
The provision, Section 4(5), allows a suspect to be...
Home Minister Hamzah Zainudin is on a quest to retable a motion on the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 (Sosma) in the Dewan Rakyat.
This was after the motion to extend the enforcement period for a key provision was voted down on Wednesday.
The provision, Section 4(5), allows a suspect to be detained by the police for 28 days without having to be brought before a court. The provision is set to expire on July 31.
The first meeting of the Dewan Rakyat this year ended yesterday (March 24). It will only meet for a second meeting from July 18 to Aug 14.
“I am looking at how we can retable it. There is a time crunch.
“August will be too late as it would have expired. We have to see how this can be done,” Hamzah was quoted as saying by The Star.
He added that the matter will be discussed with legal officers to determine the next course of action.
This is an apparent change of tune from Wednesday when Hamzah (above) agreed the preventive detention law should be reviewed to improve its humanitarian aspects.
The minister noted arguments by MPs who opposed the preventive law and said some of them “made sense”.
One argument raised the need to specify the number of days a detainee can be held under Sosma according to the type of offence they are being investigated for.
Gobind Singh Deo (Pakatan Harapan-Puchong) also pointed out several human rights issues with Sosma, including denying a suspect from receiving bail.
Hamzah, while agreeing the issue can be discussed for improvement, stressed such a review should be done through another discussion at a later date, as the motion that was tabled on Wednesday only sought an extension for Section 4(5).
Historic vote
The minister’s attempt to secure an extension to the provision was, however, thwarted in a historic event when the opposition managed to defeat the government in a bloc vote.
This happened when only 85 MPs voted in support of the renewal, compared to 86 who opposed. Another 49 MPs were absent.
Among those absent was Maria Chin Abdullah (Harapan-Petaling Jaya) who was detained under Sosma in 2016 and has been vocal about her disapproval of the act.
Maria told Free Malaysia Today she was absent from the parliamentary sitting because she was hospitalised after suffering a dizzy spell and breathlessness. She has since been discharged.
While the MP was overjoyed at the outcome of the motion, she reiterated her call to abolish the act entirely.
“Bear in mind we did not get rid of Sosma, just the part where they wanted to extend the sunset clause.
“Even without this sub-section, detainees can still be held for up to 14 days before being brought to court. Sosma is still part of our law,” she was quoted as saying.
Other MPs who were absent during the vote included Azmin Ali (Perikatan Nasional-Gombak), Ahmad Zahid Hamidi (BN-Bagan Datuk), Najib Abdul Razak (BN-Pekan), Dr Mahathir Mohamad (Pejuang-Langkawi), and Anwar Ibrahim (Harapan-Port Dickson), among others.
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