[Malaysia] Strengthen the ISA!

Malaysia strengthens draconian internal security laws

KUALA LUMPUR, June 3 (AFP) - Malaysia's highest court has strengthened harsh security laws which allow for indefinite detention without trial, saying there is no time limit for authorities to act after an alleged offence.

Critics said that the Federal Court's ruling Thursday raises the prospect of people being taken into custody years or even decades after the alleged offence was committed.

The Federal Court passed down the judgement on three laws, including the notorious Internal Security Act (ISA), under which people can be held for alleged security, criminal and drug trafficking offences.

The move follows media reports that several prisoners were freed because their detention orders -- which must be signed by the home minister or his deputy -- were not processed quickly enough.

"It is not the function of the court to create such a limitation period or procedural requirement," Chief Justice Abdul Hamid Mohamad, one of three judges on the ruling panel, was quoted as saying by the official Bernama news agency.

The judgement was made in an appeal hearing for Lee Kew Sang, 47, who was detained in September 2003 over his alleged participation in a gang fight in February that year.

Lee's involvement in a Chinese triad gang in the 1980s when he was a teenager was also cited by the prosecution.

His lawyer R.R. Mahendran argued the detention order was issued too long after the alleged offence but the appeal was dismissed.

The judgement now means that anyone can be picked up and put back in detention even though they have committed no offence for years, Mahendran told AFP, adding his client had not been a gang member for decades.

"Twenty-five years may have gone by and the person may have reformed. But if for some reason, he makes a statement the government is not happy with, the prime minister can detain him based on the past offence," he said.

Although Lee was detained under the criminal prevention act, the judges delivered their ruling for the ISA and the drug trafficking acts as well.

Mahendran said he intended to petition a different panel of Federal Court judges because of the wide-ranging implications of the judgement.

The ISA, originally designed to combat a communist rebellion half a century ago, allows for two-year detention periods without trial, which can be renewed indefinitely.

Critics charge that the law, which has been used to arrest more than 10,000 people since 1960, is used to crush political dissent. The government maintains it is an essential tool against terrorism.

Government figures released in February show Malaysia is holding 102 people in detention under the ISA, more than 80 of which are suspected Islamic militants.