No preventive detention, says Govt Home Minister supports A-G’s stand on issue
(The Star) – The Government will not push to reintroduce preventive detention to deal with the recent rise in organised crime, said Home Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
The ministry, he said, would stand with Attorney-General Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail – who recently declared he would not support any move to reinstate preventive detention – but noted that the country still needed a law to clamp down on gangsters and serious crime.
“I am with the A-G Chambers. We have no dispute with him. We are not pushing for a law that provides detention without trial but we want the penalties to be as heavy (as provided for under the Emergency Ordinance).
“Detention will only be for investigations – before the trial takes place,” Zahid said at a Rela buka puasa event here yesterday.
While maintaining that he respected Abdul Gani’s views, Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar stressed that police still needed some kind of preventive law to strike fear in violent criminals and organised crime.
“I am not talking about preventive detention. I am talking about preventive laws.
“The main issue is that a lot of witnesses are afraid to testify in court against these criminals, so we need a preventive law where we can get witnesses to testify in court without fear,” he said in Bukit Aman here yesterday.
When asked if the new laws should allow for preventive detention, Khalid said it was up to the Attorney-General to decide on what the laws should be.
“We have passed our recommendations to the Home Ministry and we will wait for it to send them over to the Attorney-General,” he said.
Malaysiakini quoted Abdul Gani as saying yesterday that he would never agree to preventive detention and felt that existing laws were sufficient to prosecute criminals.
“I am a strong advocate of the present laws without preventive detention.
“I have full confidence that enforcement officers can do their jobs without having to rely on such draconian laws,” he said.
Abdul Gani added that laws which were sufficient to address crime include the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act (Sosma), the Prevention of Crime Act, the Penal Code, the Criminal Procedure Code and the Evidence Act.
He also explained that Sosma, which replaced the now-repealed Internal Security Act (ISA), also did not allow preventive detention.
Rather, he said, it provides for detention “for the purpose of investigation” and not as a way of prevention of crime as determined by a minister as per the ISA.
In any case, Abdul Gani said the Attorney-General’s Chambers had never prosecuted individuals who were previously held under preventive detention.
