Just how new will the new law be on detaining criminals, ask critics

The Bar Council was fearful it would reincarnate the old discredited law. Senior opposition leader R Sivarasa declared it irrelevant. Human rights group Suaram just called it a ploy. 

Home Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi

The new law to replace the former Emergency Ordinance Act (EO) that allowed criminals to be held for years without trial has drawn flak from different quarters – even before its critics have been told what is in it. 

The Bar Council was fearful it would reincarnate the old discredited law. Senior opposition leader R Sivarasa declared it irrelevant. 

Human rights group Suaram just called it a ploy. Christopher Leong, chairman of the Bar Council, is opposed to the return of the EO “dressed” under a new name. 

"The Bar has not seen and does not know what the proposed new law looks like or contains. And we certainly do not favour what would be the effective recasting of the EO. "It is not acceptable because it is easily open to abuse," he said, pointing out that the government has recognised this and repealed the old act in Parliament. 

He was commenting on a report that the first draft of a new set of laws to replace the EO is currently with the Attorney-General's Chambers. 

Home Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi had said the government decided on the new laws following the spike in crime after the abolishment of the EO and the Restricted Residence Act. Leong said the authorities have not shown any tangible data or evidence connecting the spike in street crimes to the repeal of the EO. "Measures to address street crimes include upgrading the capacity and abilities of police personnel. 

It is not about equipping them with power to detain without trial," he stressed. However, Leong said the Bar recognised that there may be grounds to consider new legislation to deal with syndicated crime. "We are open to the idea of new legislation to deal with syndicated crime but it should not be the EO dressed up under a different name. 

We are open to discussing this with the AG's chambers," he said. PKR Subang MP R Sivarasa said better policing, not new laws was needed in the country. “The police already have plenty of power, it is just that they themselves are not capable of executing it,” he told reporters at Parliament yesterday. 

Sivarasa said the police should not blame the spike in crime to the repeal of the EO as they had been given 18 months to prepare for it. He noted that they had sufficient time to charge those under detention. “If there is evidence to show they are involved in a crime, why don’t the police just charge them in court?" 

He said when the EO was repealed, more than 2,600 detainees were released. "Everyone then blamed those released on the spike in crime," Sivarasa said. Suara Rakyat Malaysia (Suaram) executive director Nalini Elumalai said it opposed any laws that allow indefinite detention without trial. 

She said the call to replace the EO with another law is a ploy by the police and Home Ministry to cover up their failures. Nalini felt the police should work at improving their criminal investigative department instead. – July 5, 2013.

Source : MSN News