Businessperson Goh Leong Yeong has been released two days ago after being detained for one and a half years under the Prevention of Crime Act 1959 (Poca) over alleged links to online gambling.
The Kuala Lumpur High Court judicial commissioner Roz Mawar Rozain on Wednesday ruled that the preventive detention against the businessperson, also known as Alvin Goh, was unlawful.
Back in November 2020, the High Court dismissed Goh’s initial habeas corpus application against his remand order issued under Poca. His subsequent appeal to the Federal Court was also dismissed.
Goh again challenged the two-year detention order through a separate habeas corpus application, which the High Court allowed on Wednesday.
Speaking to Malaysiakini today, lawyer Marcus Lee, representing Goh, confirmed this matter.
Lee said that following the court’s ruling, Goh has been released from detention at Simpang Renggam, Johor.
The lawyer said the court allowed the legal challenge against the detention order made under Section 19A(1) of Poca.
“She (Roz Mawar) made observations, among others, that based on the authorities’ affidavit, the element of organised violence is absent,” Lee said.
Section 19A(1) deals with the procedure for issuing Poca detention against a suspect.
Section 19A(2) of the Act however notes that the Prevention of Crime Board’s detention order may be subjected to review by the courts.
Preventive detention laws, such as Poca, empower the enforcement authorities such as the police to incarcerate suspects before court trial, on the assumption that their release would not be in the best interest of society, as they may allegedly be likely to commit violent crimes which threaten public safety if released.
Besides Lee, other senior members of Goh’s legal team were former federal court judge Gopal Sri Ram, Gobind Singh Deo, Jacky Loi, PG Cyril, and Lim Jin Wen.
High Court’s decision lauded
When contacted, counsel Jacky Loi applauded the High Court for observing the principle of stare decisis (doctrine of precedent) and following the Federal Court decision in the case of Lei Meng vs Inspector Wayandiana Abdullah, which was a landmark decision in preventive detention laws delivered on Jan 7 this year.
In this case, the apex court ruled that the High Court could inquire into the legality of arrest even if the board had issued detention orders or the detainees had since been freed.
In the landmark decision, the Federal Court said the right to challenge illegal detention and obtain an order of release was safeguarded under Article 5(2) of the Federal Constitution.
Article 5(1) states that no person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty, save in accordance with the law.
Subclause 2 of the provision states that where a complaint is made to a High Court or any judge thereof that a person is being unlawfully detained, the court shall inquire into the complaint and, unless satisfied that the detention is lawful, shall order him to be produced before the court and release him.
The Home Ministry, which is the respondent in Goh's habeas corpus application, was represented by senior federal counsel Muhammad Sinti and Farah Ezlin Yusop Khan.
On April 12 last year before the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court, 33-year-old Goh and his brother Goh Yeong Hui, 28, claimed trial for seven money laundering charges involving sums of RM2.1 million.
On Dec 1, 2020, Bernama reported that the main suspects behind online gambling activities, namely Goh and businessperson Zaidi Kanapiah, as well as two police officers, were detained for two years under Poca.
However, Zaidi, who is also known as Addy Kanna, succeeded in his appeal to the Federal Court to quash his preventive detention. - Mkini
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