'New ISA' to be focused in Parliament

The controversial amendments to the Prevention of Crime Act 1959 will be a focal point in Parliament today as the Bill is tabled for its second reading.

Fiery debates are expected as lawmakers from both sides will argue and present their cases for or against the new legislation, which have been criticised as it brings back indefinite detention without trial akin to resurrecting 'draconian' laws such as the Emergency Ordinance (EO) or the Internal Security Act (ISA).

While things in the Dewan Rakyat will heat up, on the streets, SUARAM plans to hold a peaceful protest, walking from the Lake Gardens to Parliament in the morning. The group plans to hand over a memorandum to the Home Minister.

In the house itself, the said Minister, Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi is expected to deliver a speech and outline the need for the amendment.

He is also supposed to explain the features of the new law, which is to be called the Prevention of Crime (Amendment and Extension) Act 2013 (PCA).

At the second reading, MPs will debate the general principles of the new law and will go through simple majority voting, either through voice or block voting.

The Bill will then go through the committee stage where specific debates on all clauses will take place: this is where amendments to the bill will be discussed. At the third reading, there will be another round of voting and the bill will be passed before it is handed over to the Dewan Negara.

All this can take place in just one day or stretch through a few days.

Last week, Zahid said in Parliament lobby that that the PCA was not “draconian”, but rather, that it was “transformational” instead, when the Bill was tabled for the first time.

On Saturday, he had assured that the new PCA would not be used against politicians or parties with dissenting views.

“The government has given its assurance that the PCA is 100 per cent aimed only at criminals. It will not be manipulated to control, detain and jail parties with differing views with the government. It is only to prevent crimes," he said in a forum.

However, Zahid raised eyebrows when he reportedly claimed that quite a number of Opposition leaders supported the PCA as well.

This seemed odd as most of the noise made by Pakatan Rakyat leaders so far have been critical of the amendment.

On the first day itself, DAP chairman Karpal Singh said the new contents were "no better" than what it was under the ISA.

"Detention without trial cannot be justified and putting it under three people rather than one minister makes no difference," he said right after the PCA was tabled last week.

He said that the lack of a judicial review any orders of detention "made it worse".

Steven Sim Chee Keong PKR-Bukit Mertajam and Zairil Khir Johari DAP-Bukit Bendera, said that PCA violates civil liberties, suggesting instead that the police should focus on solving crime via the criminal justice system instead of taking the easy way out by using detention without trial.

NGOs and activists have voiced strong opposition to the amendments, especially the apparent ‘return of detention without trial’.

The Malaysian Bar, the Sabah Law Association and the Advocates Association of Sarawak said that the new law effectively re-introduces the ISA and the Emergency Ordinance.

“The proposed amendments to the PCA are objectionable and repugnant to the rule of law. These amendments violate the rule of law and ignore due process and infringe upon our constitutional rights,” the three groups said in a statement on Friday.

They also objected to 10 other proposed legislations, including proposed amendments to the Criminal Procedure Code and the Evidence Act 1950.

According to the three bodies, the proposed amendments to the PCA seek to revive preventive detention without trial, repeated renewals of such detention without trial, oust the jurisdiction of the judiciary.

The Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (SUHAKAM) has called the PCA amendments “inconsistent with fundamental human rights principles”.

Suhakam chairman Tan Sri Hasmy Agam called on the Government to defer the second reading today and to conduct a review of the proposed amendments.

While UMNO minister Abdul Rahman Dahlan was defending the PCA on Twitter, MCA has been more vocal in its concerns over possible abuses.

MCA young professionals bureau chief Datuk Chua Tee Yong had said that he supported having a judicial review for the PCA.

Over the weekend, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department in charge of governance, integrity and transparency Datuk Paul Low defended having preventive laws.

Low said: "Organised crime is more than dangerous than gangsterism. It is about money laundering, human trafficking, kidnapping, gambling, violation of cyber laws and so many other things."