Lawyers for Liberty calls on gov't to abolish Sosma without delay

Lawyers for Liberty has raised its concern over the government's announcement that the controversial Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 (Sosma) will not be abolished but amended instead.

Its director Melissa Sasidaran said the government needed no reminder on how Sosma was abused in the past, including to target dissidents and the then opposition.

"Oppressive laws cannot magically transform into just and acceptable laws simply because Pakatan Harapan is now in power," she said in a statement today.

Melissa said Sosma fell short of international standards of a fair trial, which is a fundamental right that must be accorded to anyone facing a criminal charge.

"Evidence that is normally inadmissible in a normal criminal trial is admissible in a Sosma trial, including evidence obtained by oppression, torture or even fabrication as the 'evidence' tendered will normally be admissible, no matter how it was obtained.

"Further, the accused will not be able to challenge or cross-examine most of the evidence admitted under Sosma as it allows for a protected witness to give evidence in anonymity, thus contravening basic standards of a fair trial."

Melissa urged the government to quickly repeal Sosma and other oppressive laws.

"Malaysia cannot call itself a proper democracy while undemocratic and draconian laws remain in our statute books."

For the record, Harapan in its election manifesto did not promise to repeal Sosma altogether, but rather "to abolish draconian provisions in the following acts" which included Sosma, the Prevention of Terrorism Act 2015 (Pota), the Peaceful Assembly Act 2012, the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998, as well as the Penal Code governing peaceful assembly and activities harmful to democracy.

However, in July last year, several months after Harapan won the general election, Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad said that the government would repeal oppressive laws, including Sosma.

He said Sosma had allowed the previous government to arrest anyone without having to go to court.

"(Former prime minister) Najib's law allows a person to be arrested and not be taken to court and if that person died, there will be neither an inquiry nor action taken against those who killed him. That is the law passed by Najib (Abdul Razak) and we will repeal that law," Mahathir said.

The government is currently working on an amendment bill for Sosma. It was initially slated to be tabled at be Dewan Rakyat this year, but has since been pushed to 2020.

In the past, those arrested under Sosma included former Ummo leader Khairuddin Abu Hassan, lawyer Matthias Chang and ex-Bersih chairperson Maria Chin Abdullah.

Recently, 12 individuals, including two DAP assemblypersons, were detained under Sosma for their alleged links with Sri Lanka's Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

The usage of Sosma for the arrests had irked several leaders.

Muhyiddin and several other ministers have said the country needed to retain the controversial law - which allows for detention for up to 28 days without trial - in the interest of national security.

Mahathir recently said Sosma had to be used in the LTTE crackdown in the absence of alternative laws.