The families of the people who were arrested under the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 (Sosma) have requested a meeting with Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail.
Suaram coordinator Wong Yan Ke said that it was crucial for the minister to be on the ground with the families.
“Saifuddin needs to set up an appointment with the family members to listen to their demands and their needs.
“They are the ones who have suffered. They are the victims of Sosma,” he told Malaysiakini.
This demand was included in the memorandum submitted to the Home Ministry this morning.
It was received by the ministry’s deputy secretary at its Putrajaya headquarters.
Present at the submission were relatives of the 90 individuals accused of being members of “Geng Rusa Boy”, “Geng Sakai”, and “Geng 08 GST”.
According to Wong, the three groups were remanded in 2020, 2021 and 2022 respectively.
All of them were later charged under Section 130V(1) of the Penal Code, which carries a jail term of up to 20 years upon conviction.
Furthermore, the memorandum also reiterated the demand for Section 13 and Subsection 4(5) of Sosma to be amended.
Section 13 prohibits bail to individuals charged under the law, except for persons below 18, women, and the sick or infirm.
Section 4(5) allows a person to be detained for 28 days without the need to bring the person to a magistrate as required under section 117 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC).
Saifuddin had said in December last year that he was open to reviewing Sosma but there are no plans to do so right now.
The families also repeated calls for Sosma to be subjected to a moratorium and for bail to be given to the detainees.
Meanwhile, Hiroshini Shanmugam, whose husband and father-in-law were accused of being members of “Geng Rusa Boy”, claimed that the detainees were willing to plead guilty in order to shorten their sentences.
“They have been detained and have not seen their families for so long.
“But they know they have not done anything wrong, yet they are willing to plead guilty because of the long wait for their trials,” the 30-year-old alleged. - Mkini
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