NEW SECURITY LAWS BURDEN OF PROOF

By : SHANNON TEOH (TMI)

REFORMS....The repeal of the ISA is part of the reforms announced by Najib during his Malaysia Day address in September.

REPLACEMENT security laws for the Internal Security Act (ISA) will demand a higher burden of proof before arrests can be made, Datuk Seri Najib Razak indicated today.

The Prime Minister told hundreds of senior police officers here that it will be 'more demanding to enforce' the new laws once 'the much-maligned ISA is consigned to the history books.' The ISA allows for detention without trial.

“We cannot be in the state of mind of just arresting anyone but must ask if the evidence can stand in the court of law,” he said at the International Conference on Principled Policing here.

Najib acknowledged criticisms that the ISA is 'archaic and draconian' and called on the force to transform itself to 'a higher level of professionalism' especially in the collection of evidence, in which there 'cannot be compromise.'

The Barisan Nasional (BN) chief had announced the repeal of the ISA in a raft of reforms during his Malaysia Day address last September but later said it would only be done in March after two new replacement laws are drafted.

But police have continued to use the ISA, most notably in a sweep of 13 suspected Islamic militants in Sabah last November. Hishammuddin maintains the ISA replacements will still allow for arbitrary arrests.

Just days after Najib’s announcement, resistance began to surface, with political hardliners like Perkasa’s Datuk Ibrahim Ali calling on the prime minister to preserve the spirit of the ISA in the two new laws.

Opposition lawmakers and civil society groups such as the Bar Council have remained sceptical of the reform, expressing fears that the enactment of two new laws meant the ISA was merely being repackaged.

De facto law minister Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz had said days after Najib’s announcement that the new laws, focusing on terrorism and race and religious issues respectively, would not be as repressive as the controversial law being repealed. The new laws are to be tabled at next month’s parliamentary sitting.

The minister in the prime minister’s department then said “no one can be arrested on the basis of differences in political ideologies and extended detention can only be approve through the courts.”

But Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein insisted in November the ISA substitutes will continue to provide for preventive detention as practised in the United States, United Kingdom and Australia to fight against terrorism.

Najib had kicked off his reform package in October after tabling the repeal of the Restricted Residence Act and the Banishment Act.

These reforms appear to be key concessions by Najib to win back middle Malaysia before a general election expected this year.

His administration had come under heavy fire for its clampdown on the July 9, 2011 Bersih rally for free and fair elections.

Police had fired tear gas and water cannons to disperse tens of thousands of demonstrators in chaotic scenes, which resulted in nearly 1,700 arrested, scores injured and the death of an ex-soldier.