Ambiguous and arbitrary claims

SUARA Rakyat Malaysia (Suaram) deplores the reversal of Home Affairs Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin’s position on abolishing the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 (Sosma) and the Prevention of Crime Act 1959 (Poca).

The claims that Sosma and Poca provide for and guarantee the safety and security of Malaysia are insincere at best. By claiming that these laws are critical for national security, the minister is suggesting that our criminal justice system under the Criminal Procedure Code and the Penal Code that has withstood the test of time is irrelevant or incapable of addressing criminal matters or providing justice.

The minister is making the same superfluous claim as the Barisan Nasional (BN) administration did in his attempt to justify the need for a parallel “justice” system under Sosma and Poca where fundamental rights protected by the Federal Constitution and fair trial principles are dismissed and ignored. Ambiguous and arbitrary claims that these laws are effective in combating national security threats without establishing how they do so and how the Criminal Procedure Code and Penal Code fail to do so is irresponsible.

Furthermore, this move is yet another betrayal by the Pakatan Harapan (PH) administration. When Suaram and other NGOs submitted a memorandum to Muhyiddin, the minister committed to further engagement with civil society on the issues, saying that he would establish a working group with civil society to review the laws while a moratorium is implemented against them. Since then, there has been only silence from the ministry.

With the backtracking and failure to fulfil its commitments, the PH administration has proven itself only capable of maintaining BN’s institutional direction and governance structure which disregard peoples’ welfare and human rights.

If the current administration fails to uphold the spirit of reform which led to its rise to power, the failure will undoubtedly contribute to its premature downfall as support among the public dwindles.

Civil society’s demand is simple: Abolish Sosma and Poca. Give detainees an opportunity to defend themselves fairly in court in line with established principles of the right to a fair trial. Failing which, PH should drop the charade and acknowledge that it is no different from BN.