KUALA LUMPUR - The Barisan Nasional (BN) administration suspended today debate on the Criminal Procedure Code (Amendments) Bill 2015, following strong resistance to the proposed law changes from both government backbenchers and opposition lawmakers.
The decision was announced by Deputy Home Minister Datuk Wan Junaidi Wan Tuanku Jaafar after the Dewan Rakyat resumed its sitting after the lunch break.
“According to standing orders 62, the second and third readings of the Criminal Procedure Code (Amendments) Bill 2015 are suspended,” he said.
Earlier today in a rare show of solidarity, BN and PR lawmakers called on Putrajaya to withdraw Bill over concerns that it would have a dire effect on public freedoms.
MPs from both sides of the divide argued that the planned amendments place too much power in the hands of the police and would undermine the rule of law in the country.
Datuk Bung Moktar Radin, the BN MP for Kinabatangan, said there are provisions in the proposed amendments that would allow one party to violate the rights of others without any recourse.
“I'm not a lawyer, but I have looked through the entire Bill and I am not convinced. If I am not convinced, we should reject it,” he said when debating the Bill.
“The police cannot take over the role of the judges, or the prosecutors. The police cannot take over our jobs... that is why I don't support this,” he added.
DAP's Ipoh Barat MP M. Kulasegaran suggested that Putrajaya go back to the drawing board and consult all stakeholders to come up with something that is acceptable to all parties.
“We are of the same position that something is not right... it is time to not only retract the Bill but to also get more discussions with stakeholders, including between BN and PR lawmakers to come up with a better outcome,” he said when interjecting.
BN's Pengerang MP Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said criticised the federal government's rush to introduce the amendments, arguing that the contents of the Bill did not go through exhaustive scrutiny.
“As a lawyer it is not fair in many aspects... why so eager to push this law to the point that the need for the role of judges and (other) agencies are forgotten?” she said.
Minister Datuk Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar
PKR's Kuala Kedah MP Dr Azman Ismail stressed that any attempt to amend existing laws or introduce new legislation cannot come at the expense of the rule of law, democracy and human rights.
Bung agreed with suggestions for a bipartisan committee to go through the Bill, repeating his position that the proposed amendments are unacceptable in their current form.
“(The government) must call both sides to discuss and if this is really needed, then it must be refined.
“I firmly ask that this Bill is withdrawn and not discussed further,” he said.
The amendments to the Criminal Procedure Code is part of a list of existing laws that Putrajaya intends to amend to supplement the powers of the authorities under the recently-passed Prevention of Terrorism Act (Pota) 2015.
The Pota was passed without amendment at the Dewan Rakyat at about 2.25am Tuesday morning after a marathon 12-hour debate.
The anti-terror Bill was passed after the ninth block voting, with the final voting favouring the government with 79 MPs from BN for and 60 MP from PR against.
Tabled in Parliament last Monday, Putrajaya’s proposed new law will allow authorities to detain suspected terrorists without bringing them to court for up to two years, with a Prevention of Terrorism Board (POTB) empowered to renew the detention order for an indeterminate amount of time.
Judicial reviews of such sentences are not permitted, according to the Bill, except for questions on its compliance with procedural matters.
Opposition lawmakers have claimed such provisions mirror that of the now-repealed Internal Security Act (ISA) 1960 which was often used to silence political opposition to the establishment. - Malay Mail
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