KOTA KINABALU: The repealed preventive laws, namely the the Internal Security Act (ISA) and the Essential (Security Cases) Regulations 1975 (ESCAR) are obsolete in the present era where human rights and the voice of the people are the ultimate decision makers.
Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) Youth chief Tsang Hieng Yee echoed party president Datuk Teo Chee Kang’s opinion made few days ago, that it is not necessary to bring back the repealed preventive laws.
Tsang said no one should be deprived of their freedom arbitrarily without first being given the right to be heard.
“Malaysia is heading towards becoming a developed nation.
“Human rights, freedom of speech, environmental awareness and animal protection, to name a few, are all fundamental elements of a developed nation which Malaysia has to emulate in order to achieve the said coveted status,” he said in a press statement released yesterday.
He said no doubt that after the repeal of the preventive laws, organized crimes have re-surfaced.
However, it is not necessary to bring back the draconian ISA and ESCAR, he said.
Tsang said the present laws could always be fine tuned and amended in order to deal with these organized and high-handed crimes.
“In this respect, we could see that the soon-to-be passed Prevention of Crime (Amendment and Extension) Act is sought to achieve this goal.
“Although this Act may not be perfect and shall be subject to constant fine-tuning, like any other acts, it seems to be a good starting effort.”
Under the Act, detention order of up to two years and which order is extendable has been reintroduced into our legal system but with a number of differences, compared to the ISA and ESCAR, he said.
“Under the Act among others, the imposition of the detention order is no longer within the exclusive jurisdiction of the Home Ministry which was, if we can remember, not challengeable by the Courts under the ISA and ESCAR.”
Under the Act, any detention order shall be made by the Prevention of Crime Board which shall consist of three persons with the chair to be taken up by a person who shall be or have been, or be qualified to be a judge of the Federal Court, the Court of Appeal or a High Court. Further, any detention order directed by the Board shall also be subject to review by the High Court, thus, preventing any misuse of the Act, Tsang explained.
“With all these measures to ensure the balance between human rights and freedom and prevention of crime, it is hoped that our present worries pertaining to the security of our nation posted by daring perpetration of violence and crimes by some organised groups can be resolved soon without sacrificing human value and fundamental freedom.”