YOURSAY ‘For those who worked endlessly on the ground to finally force BN to abolish ISA, it would seem your work is not over yet.'

Detention without trial revived in PCA draft changes

Gerard Lourdesamy: This is the Internal Security Act (ISA) mark II.

It is shocking that Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi can table such a bill despite objections from the attorney-general (AG), the Bar Council, political parties from both the BN and Pakatan Rakyat, and various civil society groups.

The provisions of this bill are worse than Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 (Sosma), which at least limits the period of detention to a maximum of 28 days before the suspect has to be charged in court and retains judicial review of the initial detention period.

This is nothing but pandering to the right-wing factions in Umno by the discredited home minister in his desperate bid to get re-elected as a vice-president.

Sosma is supposed to deal with serious crimes and terrorism. Yet the Prevention of Crime Act (PCA) is even more draconian than Sosma in tackling common crimes committed by gangsters.

MPs should vote against this bill. There should be no preventive detention at all and judicial review must be restored. Perhaps offenders should be placed under police supervision for a period not exceeding 12 months.

Bamboo: Is this not ISA in another name? It's also to make life easier for the police and public prosecutors because there's no need to do any work to put criminals behind bars.

Wira: Why can't the police prove to the judges that the people brought before them are criminals? We want judges to sentence a criminal based on investigations and police work and not based on suspicion alone.

If we can't do a good job in this, I propose that we channel the millions spent on wasteful consultancies elsewhere to get excellent constabulary brains abroad to train our police force so that we can enforce the penal code based on evidence.

Boonpou: For those who worked endlessly on the ground to finally force BN to abolish ISA and other colonial draconian laws, it would seem your work is not over yet. Let us all get back to the drawing board, and fight we must.

I truly believe reform through democratic means is not longer valid in Malaysia. The ruling regime has made a mockery out of democracy. We need to do something else.

A Malaysia awakening or a Malaysia spring is now a necessity unless we want to remain insulted by a bunch of morons. Can we allow ourselves that?

Speak up, the majority of us that are truly the subjects of indignant. Do something for yourself, do something for your children and your grandchildren.

Joker: I do not have a law degree. I am just an ordinary Malaysian with common sense. By that I mean I am smarter than most of Malaysian ministers, especially our recent string of home ministers.

Malaysians are a lot smarter than you ministers think. Giving us half-past-six and dodgy answers will only result in us looking at you with even more scorn as we can see right through your shallow spinning.

We Malaysians know English. We know what is detention without trial. We know the main advantage of ISA is it allows for detention without trial and PCA's only difference with ISA is the absence of the said clause.

Hence, when you add in this clause into the PCA, we all know it is just a repackaging of PCA to be the new ISA. Malaysians have been lied to since independence.

Unlike our minister, we have grown wiser and we can smell a spin from a mile away. Try harder next time. Otherwise, don't bother. You know you can implement any law that you like anyway.

Anonymous_4056: If the police can kill so many under their custody, then abusing the intended PCA is chicken feed to them.

Never ever give blanket power to the police when they are still not professional in handling it. The existing laws pertaining to crime is more than adequate.

Anonymous_4031: Detention without trial in the amended PCA, if passed, is the same as the ISA or Emergency Ordinance (EO), but clothed in a different form.

What is worse is that there is no judicial review. Politicians, especially, were locked up under ISA. This PCA, just like the ISA, could be misused or rather abused by the powers-that-be.

Dictators use powers and armed forces to remain in power. In the Philippines, then president Ferdinand Marcos did it to silence opposition leaders and dissenters until the people woke up and sent him packing to Hawaii.

In Burma, the military junta refused to allow the victor, Aung Sang Suu Kyi, the clear winner in the election, to take over as president and to add insult to injury, they put her under house arrest.

In South Africa, the president locked away Nelson Mandela in Robben Island for 27 or 28 years. In Egypt, the military using arms, ousted the newly-elected Mohamed Morsi.

The power to a judicial review must be in place. Wrongful detention is dictatorial. Let us not use the rampant crime as an excuse to detain innocents.

Anonymous_4031: The inspector-general of police must be up to his mark to solve, or better still, prevent crimes. There are enough laws to tackle crimes.

Effective management is what is lacking. When a Singapore newspaper commented about crimes in Malaysia, it is not "malicious" but a fact.

If you cannot do the job properly, do not blame others, blame yourself. Just accept the fact that you are not up to the mark.

The most honourable thing a man of dignity would do is resign. Just say, I am not capable. Let another person take over. Don't blame the law; the law is there.

Ian2003: This is worse than ISA when this bill is passed - the judiciary is not allowed to review the case just like how the judiciary may not challenge the electoral roll.

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