KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 22 — Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein misunderstands the reason for the United States’ preventive detention clause in its Patriot Act, Malaysia’s Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) said today.Commissioner Muhammad Sha’ani Abdullah pointed out that the US security law does not allow for detention without trial, disputing the minister’s citation yesterday.
“That’s why Hishammuddin’s statement that the new law replacing the Internal Security Act (ISA) is the equivalent of the Patriot Act is not true,” he said.
Yesterday, the minister announced that the replacement for the much-criticised ISA next year will still include a clause that will allow the police to detain a person without trial.
Hishammuddin had said the preventive measure was needed to combat militant movements and terrorism, and cited as examples the Patriot Act in the United States as well as the Anti-Terror Acts in Britain and Australia.
The home minister and the national human rights watchdog have been engages in a verbal exchange following the arrest of seven Malaysians and six foreigners in Sabah last week, for what the police allege to be an attempt to revive a militant movement in the state.
Suhakam chairman Tan Sri Hasmy Agam issued a strongly-worded statement soon after, saying the arrests went against Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s promise to repeal the archaic security law.
“What we want is to see them taken to court and tried and not detained without trial under ISA,” Muhammad Sha’ani said today, backing Hasmy.
read more at TheMalaysianInsider.com
