Putrajaya’s decision to repeal preventive laws after bowing to public pressure is a mistake as it did not take into account the void it would leave in law enforcement, a forum heard today.
The panellists called for a fresh set of preventive laws with the country’s former top cop Tan Sri Musa Hassan leading the charge.
Also on the panel were former Criminal Investigation Department chief Tan Sri Zaman Khan and former New Straits Times Group Editor-in-Chief, Datuk A. Kadir Jasin.
“Is this law adequate in helping police combat the problem? For me, it is not.Musa claimed that the Prevention of Crime Act (PCA), which is now being used in place of the repealed Emergency Ordinance (EO), is inadequate in tackling organised crime.
“We need a law that empowers the police with more bite, for the police to act on the (syndicate) bosses,” he said at the Sinar Harian forum in Shah Alam today.
Zaman agreed. He said the fear of preventive laws kept criminals in check.
Musa said the repealed EO was not cruel, contrary to what the public believed, as the EO had an advisory board that monitored police action.
"We need to correct public perception on this matter. The board served as a check and balance and had the power to overturn our decision if they found it to be wrong.
"There were cases where the detainees were released. The people detained were also allowed to use the habeas corpus to challenge their detention if they thought they were wrongfully detained,” said Musa.
Kadir pointed out that the government was pressured to repeal the Internal Security Act (ISA) because it was bad for the country.
“We were told that investors will not be coming to the country if we do not repeal ISA, but look at Singapore. They did not repeal the ISA. Have investors abandoned that country?” he questione
d.
He also said that for the opposition here, being detained under the ISA was like a badge of honour.
Zaman (pic, right), the former CID director said preventive laws kept the country in peace.
“It is difficult to keep all races together so the law serves as that. Have we ever heard of people 'breaking fast' with a pork dish before? Or questioning Islam?
"It never happened before when the ISA was around,” said Zaman.
Since Putrajaya brought out the PCA which allows police to hold suspects without charge for 70 days, some 5,000 people have been detained in the nationwide “Ops Cantas”, in a move to curb the activities of secret societies.
Musa pointed out that under the PCA, detainees could still communicate with other syndicate members, rendering the detention ineffective in cutting off suspected gangsters from their organisations.
“Crime can still happen and orders can still be served,” he added. - September 10, 2013.
*Article first appeared on http://themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/former-top-cops-editor-c...