Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012

Last updated

Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012
MalaysianParliament.jpg
Parliament of Malaysia
  • An Act to provide for special measures relating to security offences for the purpose of maintaining public order and security and for connected matters.
Citation Act 747
Territorial extent Malaysia
Passed by Dewan Rakyat
Passed17 April 2012
Passed by Dewan Negara
Passed9 May 2012
Royal assent 18 June 2012
Commenced22 June 2012
Effective 31 July 2012, P.U. (B) 256/2012 [1]
Legislative history
First chamber: Dewan Rakyat
Bill titleSecurity Offences (Special Measures) Bill 2012
Bill citation D.R. 15/2012
Introduced by Najib Razak, Prime Minister
First reading 10 April 2012
Second reading 16 April 2012
Third reading 17 April 2012
Second chamber: Dewan Negara
Bill titleSecurity Offences (Special Measures) Bill 2012
Bill citationD.R. 15/2012
Introduced by Liew Vui Keong, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department
First reading 23 April 2012
Second reading 8 May 2012
Third reading 9 May 2012
Repeals
Internal Security Act 1960 [Act 82]
Amended by
Security Offences (Special Measures) (Amendment) Act 2015 [Act A1487]
Keywords
Public order, special measure, security
Status: In force

The Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 (Malay : Akta Kesalahan Keselamatan (Langkah-Langkah Khas) 2012, abbreviated SOSMA) is a controversial law supposedly "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 introduced by Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, approved in Parliament on 17 April 2012, given the Royal Assent on 18 June 2012 and Gazetted on 22 June 2012.

Contents

Structure

The Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012, in its current form (4 June 2015), consists of 8 Parts containing 32 sections and 2 schedules (including 1 amendment).

Arrests Under the Act

Three people, including former ISA detainees Yazid Sufaat, Halimah Hussein and Mohd Hilmi Hasim, were the first ever detained under SOSMA in 2013. They were arrested for alleged incitement of terrorist acts. [2] Following the 2013 Lahad Datu standoff, 104 Filipinos with suspected links to Jamalul Kiram III, one of the claimants to the throne of the Sultanate of Sulu, were detained under SOSMA. These included several family members of Kiram who had entered the state of Sabah using false identities. [3]

Controversies and issues

2016 allegations and condemnations of abuse of power of the government and calls for abolition

In 2016, SOSMA was used to arrest 15 prominent civil rights activists, including Maria Chin Abdullah, after the Bersih 5 rally, leading to widespread condemnation from various parties, including Lawyers for Liberty director Eric Paulsen, [4] 80 civil society organisations, [5] the Malaysian Human Rights Commission and the US State Department. Several civil rights groups also said the use of SOSMA for an organiser of a peaceful rally was abuse of power and that the Malaysian government was trying to suppress dissent by using draconian laws. [6] In 2016, 80 prominent civil rights group collectively called for the abolition of SOSMA, calling it a "draconian" law. [7]

2022 Dewan Rakyat parliamentary motion defeat and political instability

On 23 March 2022, Minister of Home Affairs Hamzah Zainudin tabled the motion in Dewan Rakyat to carry on with the powers to detain suspects for up to 28 days without trial and to extend the enforcement of subsection 4(5) of SOSMA for another five years beginning from 31 July 2022. However, it suffered from a historic defeat after the dewan voted against it after it was put to a bloc vote following a heated debate among MPs by a majority of only 2 votes with 86 votes against it and 84 for it while 50 other MPs being absent. Hamzah noted that this was not the first time the government had sought to extend the powers of detention under subsection 4(5) of SOSMA. Hamzah said the preventive laws to detain suspects for such a long period is still necessary, in light of the seriousness of the crimes it intended to thwart. He also highlighted the fears of certain quarters who claimed SOSMA was being arbitrarily used to carry out political detentions, but said that the law was the best mechanism in dealing with security threats. However, many Opposition MPs were firmly against it, the reasons behind their opposition come from several statements they have made such as "provisions excluded the courts from acting as a check and balance involving detention of suspects under SOSMA, that criminal suspects are usually detained for a maximum of 14 days under the Criminal Procedure Code, which is subject to approval by the Magistrates Court", "going against SOSMA did not mean that they supported terrorism, SOSMA is a cruel law, anyone who wishes to uphold justice must think about fairness even when it comes to the accused", ''SOSMA was used as a political tool to detain future Petaling Jaya MP Maria Chin Abdullah in 2016 when she led the Bersih 2.0 movement, she was detained merely because she was championing for a free and fair democratic process". This historic event also sparked political instability within the nation with several MPs from the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) and United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) questioning that the Opposition has nullified as well as breaking the agreements under a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed on 13 September 2021 between the government and Pakatan Harapan (PH) opposition coalition to achieve political ceasefire for political stability for the sake of the nation and her people and they are no longer bound by the MoU as it stated that the Opposition can only vote for and abstain from the motion voting. Some also urged for reevaluations or termination of the MoU after the event due to the same reason and "lack of moral ground to lead the nation anymore". It was also believed that those responses of BN and UMNO MPs were due to their intentions to pressure the Prime Minister to call for an early general election for them to make a strong comeback to form a stable government with political dominance again as one of the MoU agreements stated that the Prime Minister would not call for a general election by 31 July 2022 to allow a long period of political stability after their streak of gaining numerous electoral victories in the 2020 Sabah state election, 2021 Melaka state election and 2022 Johor state election after their electoral defeat in the 2018 general election. Inspector-General of Police Acryl Sani Abdullah Sani noted that Bukit Aman would utilise existing laws including the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC) for cases under SOSMA after 31 July 2022, his statement also said that "The cases are offences under Chapter VI of the Penal Code (crimes against country), Chapter VIA of the Penal Code (terrorism offences), Chapter VIB of the Penal Code (organised crime offences), Chapter IIIA of the Anti-Human Trafficking and Anti Smuggling of Migract Act 2007 and Special Measures Combatting terrorism overseas. We remain committed to investigate to the best of our ability by using existing laws and enactment that have been enforced. After 31 July 2022, it means SOSMA will no longer include the powers to detain for up to 28 days. It involves those detained in complex security cases. The cases are offences under Chapter VI of the Penal Code (crimes against country), Chapter VIA of the Penal Code (terrorism offences), Chapter VIB of the Penal Code (organised crime offences), Chapter IIIA of the Anti-Human Trafficking and Anti Smuggling of Migract Act 2007 and Special Measures Combatting terrorism overseas". Nevertheless, political analysts, Opposition MPs and Minister in the Prime Minister's Department in charge of Parliament and Law Wan Junaidi have denied the responses by highlighting that the defeat bear no implication, it does not mean loss of confidence in the government as they are not supply bills or federal budgets, it is only due to the negligence of duties of the government parliamentary whips, the government may still retable the motion as well as it is not part of the MoU and whatever motions tabled must be firstly agreed by both sides before its tabling. A vote recount saw Speaker of the Dewan Rakyat Azhar Azizan Harun amending the voting results to 85 votes for and 86 votes against but it was still unable to overturn the results as it was still defeated by 1 vote. This revelation came to light after Jempol MP Salim Shariff was said to have mistakenly marked Besut MP Idris Jusoh as absent when votes were being tallied on the motion. Meanwhile, Lembah Pantai MP Fahmi Fadzil expressed dismay at the manually done mistakes as he said this was not the first time such a mistake happened during vote counting and hope that Azhar to improve the voting process system. Several MPs also called for it. In response, Azhar assured MPs that the CCTVs were examined to determine if Idris was actually in the House before the changes were made. He also agreed that there should be improvements to the system, remained open to proposals and expressing the possibility of implementing virtual or hybrid sittings as we have the technology to do so as well as highlighting that the proposed improvements could be brought up for discussion. After being blamed for the defeat, Fahmi has hit back at several government MPs by questioning their absences during the voting. In replies, Pekan MP Najib Razak and Pontian MP Ahmad Maslan clarified with respective reasons with the former was in court for case managements and accused Fahmi of fooling the rakyat as well as quipping PH of not fulfulling their 2018 general election manifesto by repealing SOSMA and latter was told there was no voting by several parliamentary officers. Hamzah confirmed that SOSMA vote would be retabled and expressed his disappointment and unfairness after revealing that some government MPs have deliberately left the dewan before SOSMA voting as they "did not like his face" and "neglected their responsibilities and national interests" and Opposition MPs of "playing politics". He also reiterated the importance of the motion by saying that "if any large syndicate was crippled, they would need to use the Criminal Procedure Code and bring them to face a Magistrate. What would happen? These criminals might be able to destroy evidence. This is why the 28 day detention period is necessary so that we can find the chain of evidence." Co-chair of the Bar Council Constitutional Law Committee Andrew Khoo however expressed the possibility of the retabling being delayed to 2023 due to the Standing Order 36 (3) which states that a matter that has been decided cannot be recosidered by the dewan within the same session. He also added on that "unless there is a substantive motion for rescission, it cannot be reconsidered. So they can try again next year. But, by next year, the five-year period would have lapsed", referring to the end of the five-year-limit of the provision to detain suspects up to 28 days on 31 July 2022. The fifth or 2022 session of the 14th Dewan Rakyat comprised three meetings, the first from 28 February to 24 March, second from 18 July to 4 August and the third from 26 October to 15 December. Meanwhile, Khoo said when the Act was enacted in 2012, the Bar Council had said that the 28-day detention period should be shortened by claiming that "So, the sunset clause was written in, to review it every five years, the question is whether, if the government tried to introduce a motion to change it from 28 days to 21 or 14 or even seven days, would that be seen as being substantially different?". [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] [23] [24] [25] [26] [27] [ excessive citations ]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abdullah Ahmad Badawi</span> Prime Minister of Malaysia from 2003 to 2009

Tun Abdullah bin Ahmad Badawi is a Malaysian politician who served as the 5th Prime Minister of Malaysia from October 2003 to April 2009. He was also the sixth president of the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), the largest political party in Malaysia, and led the governing Barisan Nasional (BN) parliamentary coalition. He is informally known as Pak Lah, Pak meaning 'Uncle', while Lah is taken from his name 'Abdullah'.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Parliament of Malaysia</span> National bicameral legislature of Malaysia

The Parliament of Malaysia is the national legislature of Malaysia, based on the Westminster system. The bicameral parliament consists of the Dewan Rakyat and the Dewan Negara. The Yang di-Pertuan Agong (King), as the head of state, is the third component of Parliament.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Constitution of Malaysia</span> Federal Constitution of Malaysia

The Federal Constitution of Malaysia which came into force in 1957 as the Constitution of the Federation of Malaya and was amended in 1963 to form the constitutionof Malaysia, is the supreme law of Malaysia and contains a total of 183 articles. It is a written legal document influenced by two previous documents, the Federation of Malaya Agreement 1948 and the Independence Constitution of 1957. The Federation was initially called the Federation of Malaya and it adopted its present name, Malaysia, when the states of Sabah, Sarawak and Singapore became part of the Federation. The Constitution establishes the Federation as a constitutional monarchy, having the Yang di-Pertuan Agong as the Head of State with largely ceremonial roles. It provides for the establishment and organisation of three main branches of the government: the bicameral legislative branch called the Parliament, which consists of the House of Representatives and the Senate ; the executive branch led by the Prime Minister and his Cabinet Ministers and the judicial branch headed by the Federal Court.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elections in Malaysia</span> Political elections for public offices in Malaya and Malaysia

Elections in Malaysia include elections to public office of the political entities that since 1963 have composed the federation of Malaysia. At present, elections in Malaysia exist at two levels: federal level and state level. Federal level elections are those for membership in the Dewan Rakyat, the lower house of Parliament, while state level elections are for membership in the various State Legislative Assemblies. The heads of executive branch at both the federal and state levels, the Prime Minister and Menteri Besar/Chief Ministers respectively, are indirectly elected, usually filled by a member of the majority party/coalition in the respective legislatures.

The Internal Security Act 1960 was a preventive detention law in force in Malaysia. The legislation was enacted after the Federation of Malaya gained independence from Britain in 1957. The ISA allows for detention without trial or criminal charges under limited, legally defined circumstances. On 15 September 2011, the Prime Minister of Malaysia, Najib Razak said that this legislation will be repealed and replaced by two new laws. The ISA was replaced and repealed by the Security Offences Act 2012 which has been passed by Parliament and given the royal assent on 18 June 2012. The Act came into force on 31 July 2012.

Preventive detention is an imprisonment that is putatively justified for non-punitive purposes, most often to prevent (further) criminal acts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Human rights in Malaysia</span> Status of rights in Malaysia

The protection of basic human rights is enshrined in Constitution of Malaysia. These include liberty of the person and prohibition of slavery and forced labour. At the national level, legislative measures that exist to prevent human rights violations and abuses can be found in acts and laws on issues that either have a human rights component or relate to certain groups of society whose rights may be at risk of being violated. Human rights groups are generally critical of the Malaysian government and the Royal Malaysia Police. Preventive detention laws such as the Internal Security Act and the Emergency Ordinance 1969 allow for detention without trial or charge and as such are a source of concern for human rights organizations like Suara Rakyat Malaysia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Internal Security Act (Singapore)</span> Statute of the Parliament of Singapore

The Internal Security Act 1960 (ISA) of Singapore is a statute that grants the executive power to enforce preventive detention, prevent subversion, suppress organized violence against persons and property, and do other things incidental to the internal security of Singapore. The present Act was originally enacted by the Parliament of Malaysia as the Internal Security Act 1960, and extended to Singapore on 16 September 1963 when Singapore was a state of the Federation of Malaysia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pakatan Rakyat</span> Political party in Malaysia

The People's Alliance was an informal Malaysian political coalition and successor to Barisan Alternatif (BA). The political coalition was formed by the People's Justice Party (PKR), Democratic Action Party (DAP), and Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) on 1 April 2008, after the 12th Malaysian general election, having previously formed the Barisan Alternatif in the 10th general election. On 20 April 2010, the Sarawak National Party (SNAP) officially joined as a member of the Pakatan Rakyat after being expelled from Barisan Nasional, but quit the coalition on 6 May 2011. The DAP declared the coalition "dead" on 16 June 2015, citing the inability of the rest of the alliance to work with PAS, after PAS's congress passed the motion to sever ties with DAP without debate. It was succeeded by Pakatan Harapan and Gagasan Sejahtera.

The 12th Malaysian Parliament is the last meeting of the legislative branch of the government of Malaysia, the Parliament, comprising the directly elected lower house, the Dewan Rakyat, and the appointed upper house, the Dewan Negara. It met for the first time at the Malaysian Houses of Parliament on 28 April 2008 and met for the last time on 29 November 2012. The King then dissolved the Parliament on 3 April 2013. The dissolution was announced by the Prime Minister Najib Razak after it consented by the King.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anwar Ibrahim</span> Prime Minister of Malaysia since 2022

Anwar bin Ibrahim is a Malaysian politician who has served as the 10th Prime Minister of Malaysia since 24 November 2022. He served as the 12th and 16th Leader of the Opposition from August 2008 to March 2015 and again from May 2020 to November 2022. He has also served as Minister of Finance from March 1991 to September 1998 and again since December 2022 and 2nd Chairman of the Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition since May 2020, 2nd President of the People's Justice Party (PKR) since November 2018 and the Member of Parliament (MP) for Tambun since November 2022. He also served as Deputy Prime Minister and in many other Cabinet positions in the Barisan Nasional (BN) administration under former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad from 1982 until his removal in 1998.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1993 amendments to the Constitution of Malaysia</span>

The 1993 amendments to the Constitution of Malaysia was passed by the Malaysian parliament with the aim of removing legal immunity of the royalty. The changes, which saw the amendments of Articles 32, 38, 42, 63, 72 and 181 in the Constitution of Malaysia, was implemented in March 1993. Before the amendments were made, the Constitution granted rulers who have violated the law not to be prosecuted by the criminal court unless he voluntarily wishes to surrender his legal immunity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hamzah Zainudin</span> Malaysian politician

Dato' Seri Hamzah bin Zainudin is a Malaysian politician who has served as the 17th Leader of the Opposition since December 2022 and the Member of Parliament (MP) for Larut since March 2008. He served as the Minister of Home Affairs for the second term in the Barisan Nasional (BN) administration under former Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob from August 2021 to the collapse of the BN administration in November 2022 and the first term in the Perikatan Nasional (PN) administration under former Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin from March 2020 to the collapse of the PN administration in August 2021, Minister of Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Deputy Minister of Plantation Industries and Commodities and Deputy Minister of Housing and Local Government in the BN administration under former Prime Ministers Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and Najib Razak from March 2008 to the collapse of the BN administration in May 2018 as well as Senator from September 2000 to September 2006. He is a member of the Malaysian United Indigenous Party (BERSATU), a component party of the Perikatan Nasional (PN) coalition and was a member of the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), a component party of the Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition. He has also served as Secretary-General of both BERSATU and PN since March 2020.

Counter-terrorism in Malaysia is a series of measures implemented in Malaysia to detect and prevent terrorism as well as to minimise damages from such terrorist acts should they occur. These measures involve all levels of security services including military, police, border and infrastructure security, civil defence, medical readiness and psychological preparedness. Malaysia also participates actively in international counter-terrorism efforts. Malaysia has experienced sustained terrorism threats from 1948 until 1989, particularly from the Malayan Communist Party. The Internal Security Act 1960 (repealed 2012, replaced with Security Offences Act 2012 was enacted to prevent terrorism in Malaysia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Malaysian United Indigenous Party</span> Malaysian political party

The Malaysian United Indigenous Party, abbreviated BERSATU or PPBM, is a nationalist political party in Malaysia. The party was preceded by the United Indigenous Association of Malaysia. It is a major component party within the Perikatan Nasional coalition and the Barisan Nasional coalition, after the collapse of the Pakatan-led government. BERSATU was approved and fully registered on 14 January 2017 by the Registrar of Societies (ROS) and the use of the BERSATU logo was authorized by the Malaysian Election Commission (SPR). The party held the Prime Ministerial position as well as the majority of positions in the cabinet from May 2020 to August 2021. The party's founding members came from the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) and Barisan Nasional rebel group Gabungan Ketua Cawangan Malaysia in 2016.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maria Chin Abdullah</span> Malaysian politician

Maria Chin binti Abdullah also known as Mary Chin Cheen Lian is a Malaysian politician and social activist who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Petaling Jaya from May 2018 to November 2022. She is a member of the People's Justice Party (PKR), a component party of the Pakatan Harapan (PH) opposition coalition. She also held the Bersih rally and formed the Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections 2.0 and All Women's Action Society (AWAM) non-governmental organisations (NGOs). She served as the Chairperson of Bersih 2.0 from 2013 to 2018, the Chairperson of AWAM and the Executive Director of the Persatuan Kesedaran Komuniti Selangor (Empower). As a social activist, she champions both the women and human rights.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2022 Malaysian general election</span>

General elections were held in Malaysia on Saturday, 19 November 2022. The prospect of snap elections had been considered high due to the political crisis that had been ongoing since 2020; political instability caused by coalition or party switching among members of Parliament, combined with the fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic, contributed to the resignation of two prime ministers and the collapse of each of their respective coalition governments since the 2018 general elections.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2020–2022 Malaysian political crisis</span> Political crisis in Malaysia

The 2020–2022 Malaysian political crisis was a political crisis in Malaysia. It was caused by several members of the 14th parliament (MPs) changing party support, leading to the loss of a parliamentary majority, the collapse of two successive coalition governments, and the resignation of two Prime Ministers in less than 18 months. The crisis led to a 2022 snap general election and eventual formation of a national unity government.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Perikatan Nasional</span> Political coalition in Malaysia

The National Alliance is a political coalition composed of the Malaysian United Indigenous Party, Malaysian Islamic Party and Malaysian People's Movement Party. This coalition was preceded by the Malaysian Party Alliance Association, also known as the Persatuan Perikatan Parti Malaysia (PPPM).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Azhar Azizan Harun</span> Malaysian politician and lawyer

Azhar bin Azizan Harun, also known as Art Harun, is a Malaysian politician and lawyer who served as the 10th Speaker of the Dewan Rakyat from July 2020 to December 2022 and the 9th Chairman of the Election Commission (EC) from September 2018 to his resignation in June 2020.

References

  1. ↑ "Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012: Appointment of Date Coming into Operation" (PDF). Attorney General's Chamber of Malaysia. Retrieved 6 April 2016.
  2. ↑ "Detention of trio under Security Offences Act has global impact". New Straits Times. Retrieved 11 February 2013.
  3. ↑ Radzi Razak (17 March 2013). "Kiram's family members among 104 detained under SOSMA". The Sun Daily. Retrieved 19 March 2013.
  4. ↑ "Maria held under Sosma: shocking news for Paulsen".
  5. ↑ "Free Maria Chin, Abolish SOSMA! · Article 19" . Retrieved 1 December 2016.
  6. ↑ hermesauto (24 November 2016). "US 'troubled' over arrest of Malaysian activist Maria Chin Abdullah under security law" . Retrieved 1 December 2016.
  7. ↑ "Free Maria Chin, abolish Sosma! — Gabungan Bertindak Malaysia". 24 November 2016. Retrieved 1 December 2016.
  8. ↑ "Govt seeking five-year extension on enforcement of Sosma's 28-day detention period".
  9. ↑ "Dewan Rakyat votes against five-year extension of 28-day detention under Sosma".
  10. ↑ "Govt can again table motion in Parliament after Sosma defeat, says lawyer".
  11. ↑ "Annuar Musa: Sosma motion bloc vote has nullified MOU between govt and Opposition".
  12. ↑ "IGP: Bukit Aman will use existing laws for cases under Sosma".
  13. ↑ "Analysts: It has no implication on PM's leadership".
  14. ↑ "It's not a loss of faith in govt, says Fahmi".
  15. ↑ "Tok Mat: MOU between govt, Opposition must be re-evaluated after Sosma motion bloc vote".
  16. ↑ "Government no longer bound by MOU with Opposition after bloc vote, says Ahmad Maslan".
  17. ↑ "Opposition's rejection of Sosma motion not in breach of MOU, says Anwar".
  18. ↑ "Zahid: Terminate MOU with Opposition now".
  19. ↑ "Sosma bloc vote: Where were Najib and Zahid, Lembah Pantai MP asks".
  20. ↑ "Nazri: Govt has no moral ground to helm the nation after losing Sosma vote".
  21. ↑ "Sosma vote recount shows govt Bill defeated by a single vote, says Speaker".
  22. ↑ "I was in court, Najib says regarding absence during Sosma vote".
  23. ↑ "I did not attend voting process, was told there would be no voting, says Ahmad Maslan on Sosma".
  24. ↑ "MOU between govt and Pakatan will not be terminated despite Sosma Bill defeat, says Wan Junaidi".
  25. ↑ "Sosma vote will be retabled, says Hamzah".
  26. ↑ "Hamzah: Backbenchers deliberately left before Sosma motion because 'they did not like my face'".
  27. ↑ "Sosma motion may not be retabled this year due to Parliamentary Standing Orders, says lawyer".
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.