‘Sosma should be amended, not abolished’
KUALA LUMPUR: A law lecturer says the government should amend the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 or Sosma instead of abolishing it.
University of Technology Malaysia senior lecturer and research fellow (Law and Constitution) Dr Muhammad Fathi Yusof said Sosma was needed as he had seen for himself how certain Malaysians had been radicalised and were involved in plans to commit terrorist acts.
However, he said Sosma had been abused and some people had been detained for political reasons.
He said the detention of former Batu Kawan Umno vice-chief Datuk Seri Khairuddin Abu Hassan, his lawyer Matthias Chang, and Bersih 2.0 chairman Maria Chin Abdullah showed that certain provisions were needed to prevent abuse.
“Sosma has been viewed as a repressive and cruel law that must be abolished.
“However, it would be better if amendments are made instead of abolishing it.”
He said other improvements to the act that could be introduced included reducing the detention period to 14 days besides giving those detained the right to defend themselves and seek legal aid.
He said those enforcing Sosma and the Prevention of Terrorism Act (Pota) must have knowledge and understanding about terrorism to prevent the laws from being abused.
“The rehabilitation of those detaned under the act must be done in a careful, holistic and strategic manner.
“There is a need to beef up resources in terms of those involved in the rehabilitation process.”
He said Sosma was a better law than the Internal Security Act (ISA).
“In fact, Sosma was introduced to replace ISA, which was frequently used in the past to detain political dissident.
“Memories of the cruelty inflicted by ISA are still fresh... from the detention of Pas Youth members in 1984, Operasi Lalang in 1987, Operasi Kenari in 1988 and the detention of those involved in the Reformasi movement in 1998.”