COMMENT | Repeal Sosma, abandon minor amendments

COMMENT | Malaysians Against Death Penalty and Torture (Madpet) is pleased that the BN-Pakatan Harapan government is looking at the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 (Sosma) and may likely restore the bail granting discretion to judges.

At present, the act prohibits bail pending the end of the criminal trial, which means that the accused of any Sosma offences are forced to languish in detention until the end of the trial.

This is draconian as it ignores the presumption of innocence until proven guilty.

Further, it is unjust for any possibly innocent individual because denial of bail results in detention until the completion of the trial, noting that trials in Malaysia can take a long time to end, maybe even years...