After teen's arrest, MP urges Home Ministry to expedite review of Sosma

PARLIAMENT | A DAP MP debating the royal address today stressed that the government has a duty to prevent further abuse of the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 (Sosma).

This comes after a 16-year-old girl was detained in Kedah last week under the law.

Ramkarpal Singh (Harapan-Bukit Gelugor) urged the Home Ministry and its minister, Saifuddin Nasution Ismail, to expedite promised amendments or the abolishment of the law.

Citing remarks by Minister in the Prime Minister Department (Law and Institutional Reform) Azalina Othman Said, Ramkarpal said: “So now, the ball is in the Home Ministry’s court.

“I urge the Home Ministry, or the home minister, to take action as quickly as possible to address this issue and prevent the misuse of Sosma in the future.

“This is something imperative and must be done without delay,” the former deputy law minister said.

Yesterday, Azalina described Sosma as “considered to be unfair”, but further noted that she could not intervene in a case involving a detained child, citing jurisdictional limits between ministries.

She also said that it was within the Home Ministry's jurisdiction to make necessary changes and reforms.

Use Child Act

In his speech, Ramkarpal described the teenager’s detention as a “classic abuse” of the detention without trial law.

“Imagine, if the detention of this 16-year-old girl had not been exposed by her mother and several other parties, would we even know about it? Would we know that Sosma was used against a child?

“That child - and we all know, there are several lawyers here on this side and that side - we know it is elementary and basic that a child should be dealt with under the Child Act.

“Under the Child Act, she must be brought before a court within a specified period, which is 24 hours. But under Sosma, that provision does not exist. Under Sosma, a person can be detained for 28 days without being brought to court,” he said.

Last week, the girl’s mother told Free Malaysia Today that her daughter had been detained at a roadblock near the Jitra toll plaza on Jan 14, under suspicion of “migrant smuggling”.

The mother said her daughter had been taken into custody, along with the girl’s father and several other individuals, to be probed under Sosma and the Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants Act 2007

Kedah police chief Adzli Abu Shah confirmed the arrest with FMT. The teenager was released on Jan 23 after nine days of detention.

PAS MP backs Ramkarpal’s call

In an interjection, Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man (PN-Kubang Kerian) voiced support for Ramkarpal’s call for urgent Sosma reforms, noting that it had been listed as a Pakatan Harapan election promise.

“What has been raised is essentially to ensure that what was already promised in the manifesto is strengthened and implemented by the government,” he said.

The PAS deputy president also urged the government to disclose the total number of arrests and detentions under Sosma, which Ramkarpal later supported, arguing for transparency on the matter.

In a recent written parliamentary reply, Saifuddin said a bill to amend Sosma is expected to be tabled at the next parliament meeting.

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