‘Sosma should be amended, not axed’
KUALA LUMPUR: The Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 (Sosma) should be amended, not abolished.
Crime and security analysts believed that abolishing the act would only open up space to not just provocations on sensitive issues, but also organised crime and terror-related cases.
Crime analyst Shahul Hamid Abd Rahim said such a law was necessary as it could play a role in curbing security threats.
Sosma, he said, should be amended at the most and not be abolished.
“We need a strict law, not only to protect the country and its people, but also to curb security threats. Sosma is the suitable law and must remain in place to preserve public order.
“It is best to get enforcement agencies to sit together and discuss the amendments that they deem suitable to improve Sosma,” he told the New Straits Times Press.
Shahul Hamid was commenting on a New Straits Times report last Tuesday, which quoted a source as saying that the abolishment of Sosma would make it harder for the authorities to gather evidence as they could no longer use statements by protected witnesses.
On July 22, Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad had said the government would abolish the controversial law, which was passed in 2012.
Pakatan Harapan, in its “Buku Harapan”, pledged to abolish draconian laws, including Sosma, the National Security Council Act and other laws that were said to oppress the people.
Another crime analyst, Kamal Affandi Hashim, said the rule of law was to ensure a systematic and humane treatment of one’s rights as stated in the constitution, as well as the criminal justice system.
“Unless one breaks it, then be prepared to surrender either in part or all of one’s rights.”
He said calls for the abolishment of certain laws, including Sosma, were not new as it had been done before.
“I am puzzled by the obsession of some quarters on abolishing laws that they feel are curbing individual freedom or not in line with the universal act of freedom.”
He said for ordinary people, no matter how “oppressive” the law was, such as the death sentence for drug-related offences, it did not affect them because they had no intention of becoming lawbreakers.
“The law will affect only those who have the intention to circumnavigate or break the law.”
Recently, Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Mohamed Hanipa Maidin was quoted as saying that the attorney-general was considering amending the charges against 442 people remanded under Sosma.
A total of 42 men — accused of being members of organised crime group Geng 360 Devan — had their charges converted from Sosma to Section 43 of the Societies Act 1966, which provided for lighter sentences.
Under the amended charge, the suspects face a maximum of three years’ imprisonment or RM5,000 fine, or both, for being members of an unlawful society.
They were previously charged with being members of an organised criminal group and could have been jailed between five and 20 years if found guilty.