Najib’s a liar, PCA is ISA 2.0

The Abolish ISA Movement (GMI) says the government's move mocks the judicial system.

PETALING JAYA: The tabling of the Prevention of Crime Act (PCA) 1959 amendments in parliament yesterday has been roundly condemned by human rights lawyers and activists.

The latest to spew her views is lawyer and PKR leader Latheefa Koya who described the PCA amendment allowing for detention without trials as “ISA 2.0” (Internal Security Act 2.0).

“Memang pun ISA, (it is ISA). It is a new Act all together and you can call it ISA 2.0.

“The fact is you cannot challenge the Act, no judicial review against the three-man board’s decision and your right to have legal representation is also denied.

“It is clearly ISA, only the name is different,” she told FMT in a phone conversation today.

Latheefa staunchly condemned the move which she said clearly abused the basic principle of democracy and human rights.

She further urged the public not be fooled by the appointment of three board members as indicated by the PCA amendments bill, and insisted that the sole power to punish was with the minister-in-charge.

“Don’t get fooled by the idea of the three board members. The minister plays the role not the three board members.

“This matter is very serious as they are pretending as if it is not like ISA but the fact is it is ISA,” she said.

When asked to comment on Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak’s earlier statement to fully abolish ISA as part of his transformation programme, Latheefa denounced his effort by depicting him as a liar.

“Total utter lies, PM Najib is lying. Just a few months after election and they have come up with this barbaric law. Where is the democracy which he said earlier on? He is a liar,” she said.

Mocking the judicial system

Meanwhile the chairperson of Abolish ISA Movement (GMI) Syed Ibrahim Syed Noh echoed Latheefa’s views that the new law presented in the parliament is the same as the old Internal Security Act.

He then added it is now clear that all the transformation programmes mentioned by the prime minister was just a rhetoric in order to win the votes.

“It is similar because there are two main points here, the first is the detention without trial or tahan tanpa bicara, and no judicial review.

“For me it is a propaganda and everyone sees it now. Once they retained the power they do as the please. All the nice words were just to win popular votes,” he said.

Syed Ibrahim also said that the government’s move mocked the judicial system.

“We have to understand here that all we want is for them not to repeat the same mistake they did. We have experienced it before.

“Tahan tanpa bicara will lead to injustice and abuse. It also violates the freedom and basic human rights of the person being detained.

“We fully understand when they say it is to curb crime but to deny the rights of the person is just wrong. Bring them to court and give them legal representation.

“What if they wrongly arrest a person and sentence him for two years without any trial? It has happened before. So we must be very careful and be very cautious,” Syed Ibrahim added.

It is also learnt that GMI will organise a meeting tomorrow with several other NGO groups to discuss the matter as well as have a legal review with a group of lawyers.

“We will sit down tomorrow to talk about what needs to be done. We call for other NGO groups to join us tomorrow as this is a very serious matter,” he told FMT.