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SOSMA
The Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 (Malay: Akta Kesalahan Keselamatan (Langkah-Langkah Khas) 2012) is “to provide for special measures relating to security offences for the purpose of maintaining public order and security and for connected matters”. The Act is to replace the 1960 Internal Security Act (Malaysia). The Act was approved in Parliament on 17 April 2012, given the Royal Assent on 18 June 2012 and Gazetted on 22 June 2012.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Under Sosma, a person can be detained for a maximum of 28 days and police can delay his access to family and legal counsel for up to 48 hours after being arrested.
Among the hundreds who were arrested under Sosma was Petaling Jaya MP Maria Chin Abdullah, who was detained for 11 days for her role in leading the Bersih 5 rally in Kuala Lumpur in November 2016.
It was also used against former Batu Kawan Umno leader Khairuddin Abu Hassan over his role in reporting the 1MDB scandal to foreign authorities.
http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2018/08/25/sosma-will-go-soon-ag-reassures/
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26 August 2018
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Anwar: Sosma worse than ISA, cases should be reviewed
Former deputy prime minister says he will raise the treatment of Sosma detainees with the home minister.
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KUALA LUMPUR: Anwar Ibrahim says he will raise the issue of the treatment of Security Offences (Special Measures) Act detainees with Home Minister Muhyiddin Yassin.
Speaking after an event, the PKR leader said the treatment of Sosma detainees was far worse than the treatment of Internal Security Act detainees.
Anwar, who spent 12 years in jail, including being arrested under the now abolished ISA, said there was a need to review the treatment of Sosma detainees who were subjected to, among others, solitary confinement and not having adequate access to family and lawyers.
“I’m not privy to every single case but they need to be reviewed. I don’t think a person should be detained under Sosma just because he wears an IS shirt.
“Yes, we should be tough against terrorists but I’m referring to how they’re treated in prison while the authorities review these cases.”
Anwar said there was a need to have a law against terrorism but questioned the wide range of legal flexibility that allowed authorities certain powers.
“As an example, if you are acquitted, pending appeal, you’re still in jail, this I think may not be the right legal framework for a free, democratic country.”
Earlier, in his speech at the launch of a book titled “Anwar Ibrahim: The Final Twist”, Anwar spoke on the hunger strike by Sosma inmates at the Sungai Buloh prison where he had once been incarcerated, saying the rights of those on strike must be safeguarded and due process respected.
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No arrest of any protester. No ‘bullying’ of any prisoner. Instead, a promise to review security laws.
PUTRAJAYA: The government said it was taking seriously the protest over the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 (Sosma), saying a special committee to review security laws would take into account views from all quarters.
“The special committee has convened twice and the next meeting will be held at the end of this month,” said home ministry secretary-general Alwi Ibrahim in a statement, a day after hundreds gathered outside the Sungai Buloh Prison amid a hunger strike by Sosma detainees.
Alwi said the special committee is made up of the police, the Attorney-General’s Chambers, the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam), Malaysian Bar, academicians and lawyers.
It was reported that 118 Sosma detainees at the Sungai Buloh Prison launched a hunger strike last Friday urging the government to abolish the Act.
They agreed to end the hunger strike today following a meeting between Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Hanipa Maidin and detainees’ representatives.
Alwi said the welfare of the detainees were being taken care of and continuously monitored, while prison medical officers were on standby at all times.
“Meals are served according to the schedule, meetings with family members and lawyers are also allowed,” he said.
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25 August 2018
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There is a hunger strike inside Sg Buloh Prison while 200 family members gather outside…
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Sosma will go soon, AG reassures
Tommy Thomas says the controversial law will be abolished despite objections from certain quarters in government and the legal fraternity.
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KUALA LUMPUR: Attorney-General Tommy Thomas today gave the assurance that the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act (Sosma) will be abolished despite resistance from certain quarters within the government and the legal fraternity.
Thomas said that this was because the controversial law, which was passed in 2012, is against civil liberties.
“The law will go soon, subject to consultation with many ministries.
“It is just a matter of time,” he said, adding that the matter needs to be managed carefully.
He said he was surprised that some criminal lawyers had told him, off-record, that Sosma was needed in dealing with gangsters.
Thomas said this at a forum on the status of institutional reforms after 100 days, organised by the Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (IDEAS) and the London School of Economics Alumni Society of Malaysia.
In July, Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad said the government would abolish Sosma, which is widely seen as a replacement of the Internal Security Act (ISA), which has been repealed.
The previous Barisan Nasional government had defended this law, saying it was needed to deter extremists, including those linked to the Islamic State.
http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2018/08/25/sosma-will-go-soon-ag-reassures/
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24 July 2018
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SOSMA and similar laws must be abolished as they allow for detention without trial which denies citizens their right to legal representaiton and allows for abuse of powers. Opposition leader Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi cannot continue to defend and justify for the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 (SOSMA). As someone who has been arrested and charged under the Act, I condemn wholeheartedly any attempt to defend this cruel and draconian piece of legislation that is an affront to human rights.
My SOSMA detention was attached to Section 124C of the Criminal Procedure Code – attempting to commit “activity detrimental to parliamentary democracy”.
During my detention, I was denied the right to trial as investigators confronted me with baseless allegations that I was attempting to orchestrate a colour revolution aimed at toppling the Government without any evidence.
Despite earlier assurances that it would not be used as a political tool, the former Government had used SOSMA not to counter terrorism but as a political tool to silence dissent similar to the Internal Security Act (ISA).
SOSMA is a prime example of legislation that promotes human degradation including mental and physical torture.
Zahid Hamidi should realise that SOSMA takes away an individual’s right to a fair trial and with arrests made without any reason for the initial arrest, miscarriage of justice is high.
There have also been recorded cases of individuals detained under SOSMA that have been forced into making confessions.
The emotional despair does not end there as the absence of an open trial, the denial of access to legal counsel, the right to grant bail being taken away from the courts and the general legal restrictions preventing help is essentially a form of torture itself.
The pain and anguish caused by mental and physical torture upon an individual, causes long lasting physical and emotional scars.
We must also consider the plight of the families of those arrested under SOSMA. As the victims are taken away from their families and are prohibited from visiting them.
As bail rests squarely on the Attorney General’s Chambers, the provision in the Criminal Procedure Code that protects an individual from being subjected to prolonged incarceration for trivial matters is gone.
In accordance with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Article 5) and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (Article 7), no one should be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
Ensuring the inherent dignity of an individual means that torture and degrading treatment must be banned at all times, including in times of war. No administration should be allowed to justify its use even in times of national emergency.
Zahid Hamidi should pay close attention to the extent to which SOSMA and other similar laws have violated the rights of individuals. I call on him to please clarify why he thinks it is alright to deny a person his basic human rights.
Moving forward, I urge the Government to abolish SOSMA and to abolish or amend all laws that violate human rights as previously promised in the Pakatan Harapan Manifesto. Any law that subjects an individual to detention without trial such as SOSMA, Prevention of Crime Act (Poca) and Prevention of Terrorism Act (Pota) must go.
MARIA CHIN ABDULLAH
PETALING JAYA MP
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KUALA LUMPUR, July 24 — The abolition of the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 (Sosma) will provide more opportunities for provocations of race and religion through social media channels, said opposition leader Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
Ahmad Zahid who is also Umno president questioned the logic of repealing the law which was formulated to preserve public order from elements which could threaten national security.
“The proposal to repeal the ‘draconian’ law that he (Tun Dr Mahathir) himself defended from 1981 until 2003, would be a bigger threat to the country with the explosion of the ‘free-for-all’ internet and mass media, as well as actions which threaten public order,” he said in a statement here tonight.
https://www.malaymail.com/s/1655203/Ahmad-Zahid-Increased-racial-provocation-with-scrapping-of-Sosma
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30 September 2015
I’m too old, not ready to be held under Sosma, says Mahathir
I’m too old, not ready to be held under Sosma, says #Mahathir https://www.malaysiakini.com/news/314004 @Zahid_Hamidi
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Former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad does not rule out the possibility that he is next to be arrested under the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 (Sosma) for being vocal against PM Najib Abdul Razak.
He, however, said he was not ready and too old to be detained under the security law.
“I am not ready, I am old, not very well and unable to think. (I am) nyanyuk (senile), you know ?” said the 90-year-old at an education forum.
“But there is no excuse for the nyaynuk people to say the wrong thing,” he said snidely.
He was asked if he expected to be arrested after Khairuddin Abu Hassan, the former Batu Kawan division deputy chief who is held under Sosma for allegedly sabotaging the country.
Khairuddin was prior to that barred from leaving the country, after lodging reports against 1MDB in various international enforcement agencies.
“This is the law. I suppose I have to submit. If I am guilty I will have to face life imprisonment,” he said in his trademark sarcasm.
https://www.malaysiakini.com/news/314004
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“Is somebody toying with the idea that I should be arrested under the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 (Sosma) on the grounds that I am anti-Quran and a danger and threat to the public order and security of the country?” asked Lim.
Sosma replaced the ISA after being repealed in 2012.
Malaysiakini
2:00PM Feb 22, 2014
Will Kit Siang be detained under Sosma?
DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang has queried whether plans were in the works to have him detained under the Security Offenses (Special Measures) Act 2012.
A sign of such a move, according to Lim, was the anti- Quran label pinned on him by Umno cybrtroopers.
That response was sparked by his Feb 1 statement criticising the Islamic Development Department Malaysia (Jakim) for its Friday sermon text blaming divisions among Muslims on weak faith plus instigation from Chrsitians and Jews.
“I did not refer to any Quranic verse or hadith but I am now accused of being anti-Quran.
“It makes me wonder whether a high-powered plot to frame me up like (Seputeh MP) Teresa Kok in 2008 so that I could be detained on the grounds of being anti-Quran and inciting racial and religious disharmony,” Lim said in a statement today.
In September 2008, DAP MP for Seputeh Teresa Kok was falsely accused of signing a petition that azan prayers at the Kinrara mosque had disturbed the peace and was detained under the Internal Security Act.
She was released a week later after a public outcry.
http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/255122
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malaysiandigest.com
Will Kok Be Charged Under Sosma?, Kit Siang Asks IGP
- Published on Thursday, 20 February 2014 11:44
KUALA LUMPUR: Lim Kit Siang asked today if Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar plans to charge DAP’s Teresa Kok under the country’s anti-terrorism law over her Chinese New Year video, citing the police chief’s remarks over the weekend.
The DAP veteran noted that Khalid had warned Malaysians that they could face the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 (Sosma) if they were not careful in making statements that touched on racial and religious sensitivities as such comments may cause chaos.
His remarks, Lim said, were made in response to Kok’s proposal to put up Malay subtitles for the video, which presently only has English and Chinese subtitles.
“Who is Khalid threatening against when he warned that anti-terrorism laws would be used against those inciting racial tension?” Lim asked.
“I am raising the question whether the IGP is thinking of Teresa Kok as a likely Sosma detainee as I was shocked to see a video clip of Khalid describing Teresa Kok’s ‘Onederful Malaysia’ video as part of a ‘campaign of hate’ to cause disharmony in the country,” he added.
But Lim told the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) that criticising a government cannot be misconstrued as a terrorist activity and should not warrant the authorities’ use of the country’s chief security law.
He said it was not the intention of Parliament to ban all criticisms against the government when the Sosma Act was passed in 2012.
The law, Lim added, is also not the proper legislation to be used against those who incite racial and religious animosities.
See also:
Will Kok be charged under Sosma?, Kit Siang asks IGP | Malaysia …
http://www.themalaymailonline.com/…/will-kok-be-charged-under-sosma–kit–s…
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SUARAM SAYS THAT SOSMA IS NOW BEING USED ON, OF ALL PEOPLE, A TEE-SHIRT MAKER!
Section 124D of the Penal Code states that anyone who prints, publicises, sells, issues, circulates, reproduces or possesses any document or publication detrimental to parliamentary democracy can be imprisoned for a term that may extend to 15 years.
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Malaysiakini
A Human rights movement has condemned the police for invoking the security law against an activist for printing T-shirts for the anti-price hike rally tomorrow night.
Suaram said police are hunting for social activist Mohd Zul Raidy Ahmad Tarmizi for printing T-shirts that are “seditious in nature” and could be “detrimental to parliamentary democracy”.
“Based on information from his family and friends, the police are conducting the investigation under Section 124D of the Penal Code and the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012,” Suaram coordinator Ahmad Syukri Ab Razab said in a statement today.
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Ahmad Syukri said Mohd Zul was yet to be arrested.
He said 10 officers from the Taiping district police headquarters visited the family home at 9 last night, but the activist not there at that time.
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After failing to find Mohd Zul, Ahmad Syukri (left) said, police proceeded to his rented house at 1am but left two hours later, as he had not turned up.
“The activist being hunted by police is only doing business openly. He merely accepted orders from the public, therefore it is illogical that he is planning to threaten parliamentary democracy,” Ahmad Syukri said.
Sosma, he added, was reserved for terrorists, but the police appeared bent on using the law to stop a peaceful rally.
Suaram decries use of Sosma on Turun T-shirt maker
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Malaysiakini
The Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) is concerned that provisions of the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 (Sosma) could violate the human rights of detainees.
It said in its 2012 annual report, released yesterday, that certain provisions are not in line with its 2003 report on the Internal Security Act (ISA) and recommendations for a new security law.
The annual report went on to say that:
– Section 4 (of Sosma) does not provide judicial oversight when the detention period is extended up to 28 days.
– Section 5 allows the police to deny immediate access to legal representation for a period of up to 48 hours.
– Section 6 permits the interception of communication which may infringe personal liberty and the right to privacy.
– Section 30 compels the court, upon application by the public prosecutor, to commit an acquitted person pending exhaustion of all appeals.
Suhakam: Sosma could violate human rights
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Malaysian Insider
Police say SOSMA detainees held over alleged al Qaeda ties
KUALA LUMPUR, May 27 — Two Malaysian men were arrested today for having suspected links to a branch of al Qaeda, police said, as the moderate Muslim country attempts to sever a connection between some of its citizens and Islamist militants in Syria.
The scrutiny comes after two Malaysians were arrested last October in Lebanon for trying to make their way to Syria to join a revolt against President Bashar al-Assad, where al Qaeda-linked militants are taking an increasingly prominent role.
The two men, aged 33 and 49, were brought before a lower court in here where they were charged with joining the Tanzim al Qaeda Malaysia group between August last year and February.
“There appears to be a connection between these Malaysians and what is happening in Syria. We don’t want it to spread,” a high-ranking police source told Reuters. He declined to be identified because of the sensitivity of the issue.
The judge fixed the next hearing for June 7.
Both of the men were arrested and charged in February on charges of inciting terrorist acts in Syria from Kuala Lumpur.
They were released last week along with an accomplice after the High Court said the charge was a misuse of the court process and unconstitutional, media reported.
One of them, Yazid Sufaat, a biochemist and former army captain, was imprisoned under the Internal Security Act (ISA) in 2001 for seven years on suspicion of being a part of the Jemaah Islamiah militant network.
The al Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiah was behind a series of bomb attacks in Southeast Asia, including nightclub attacks in Bali, Indonesia, that killed 202 people in 2002.
Yazid, who was released in 2008, was suspected by Malaysian and US authorities of providing lodging for two of the Sept. 11, 2001, hijackers and helping convicted September 11 conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui with money and references. — Reuters
Police say SOSMA detainees held over alleged al Qaeda ties
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DDW @datowoo Protected account
Former ISA detainee Yazid Sufaat has been detained just 7 days after the KL High Court allowed him to set aside a SOSMA charge/MKINI
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Malaysiakini
Yazid Sufaat has again been detained by the police, just seven days after the Kuala Lumpur High Court allowed him to set aside a charge under the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 (Sosma).
When contacted today, his wife Chomel Mohamad (left) said she does not know why he has been detained.
“The police came to our house about 8am today and picked him up. They said they are taking him to Bukit Aman. I was not at home when this happened, but my four children witnessed this.
“This is getting ridiculous as he had just been released … I am tired (of this),” said Chomel who operates a stall with her husband in a canteen.
Yazid had been released on May 20 along with two others on terrorism-rlated charges.
The trio were the first to be detained under Sosma which has replaced the Internal Security Act (ISA).
Yazid had previously been detained under the ISA for seven years, but was released in November 2008.
Yazid rearrested, wife doesn’t know why
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Malaysia Chronicle
Maiden SOSMA case collapse highlights post-ISA learning curve
KUALA LUMPUR, May 22 — A High Court’s decision to throw out the maiden charges filed under the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act showed that authorities must come to terms with the loss of arbitrary detention powers they once wielded before the repeal of the Internal Security Act (ISA).
On Monday, Justice Kamardin Hashim ordered Yazid Sufaat and his friends, Halimah Hussein and Muhammad Hilmi Hasim, to be freed after allowing their applications to strike out the charges made against them for “inciting unrest” in Syria..
When handing down the judgment, Kamardin said the court was satisfied that there was merit in the submission by the defence pertaining to the charges and the application of the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act (SOSMA) 2012, which was enacted under Article 149 of the Federal Constitution.
In his judgment, Kamardin said Article 149 of the Federal Constitution was only applicable for acts of threats in Malaysia.
“Since the charges against them involved offences committed in Syria, Article 49 and SOSMA, which is enacted under Article 149, cannot be used to prove the charges against them,” he added.
He said it would be an abuse of the court process if the prosecution was allowed to go on.
Speaking with Singapore’s The Straits Times, lawyer Amer Hamzah ― one of the lawyers acting for the three defendants ― concurred with judge’s findings that the Federal Constitution allows Parliament to legislate special laws only to deal with threats against Malaysia.
“The power of SOSMA is actually very broad,” said political analyst James Chin, noting that prosecutors may have been haphazard in framing the charge to allow the accused to beat them on a technicality before the trial even began.
The SOSMA was introduced as part of a larger reforms pledge made by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak in 2009. Among others, the reforms included the repeal of the ISA and the introduction of the Peaceful Assembly Act.
Although replacing the ISA, the SOSMA lost the former’s arbitrary powers to detain an individual indefinitely and without charge.
Proponents of the ISA believe this reduced power may hamper its ability as a security law to be used against global terrorism, but critics contend that there are already adequate laws to deal with such instances.
“SOSMA deals with national security, not international security,” said lawyer and former Bar Council president Ragunath Kesavan. “But if the police have evidence that someone is building a bomb, there are criminal laws in the Penal Code you can charge him under anyway. It doesn’t matter where the bomb is meant to explode.”
Experts also believe Malaysia’s intelligence force is well able to work around the new limitation.
5 days ago … KUALA LUMPUR, May 22 — A High Court’s decision to throw out the maiden charges filed under the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act
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See also
9 Feb 2013 … JOHOR BAHRU: The detention of three people under the Security Offences ( Special Measures) Act 2012 (Sosma) had serious global impact, .
http://www.nst.com.my/latest/detention-of-trio-under-security-..
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weehingthong 