Cops probe hunger strike by families of Sosma detainees

 

Some of the families that had gathered outside the Sungai Buloh prison since Sunday.

PETALING JAYA: The police are investigating a hunger strike outside the Sungai Buloh prison by relatives of those detained under the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 (Sosma).

More than 50 relatives of the Sosma detainees – including children – have been on a hunger strike since Sunday to protest the continued incarceration of their loved ones.

“The police have opened investigation papers under Section 9(5) and 4(2) of the Peaceful Assembly Act and Section 31 of the Child Act,” said Selangor police chief Hussein Omar Khan in a Berita Harian report.

“This is the third day they have been on a hunger strike, and the police have given them enough time and space … So we are asking them to disperse,” he said at a press conference.

The families had come out in support of 69 detainees – 34 in Sungai Buloh prison and 35 in Alor Setar prison – who started their hunger strike on Sunday, calling for an end to their detention. Some of the detainees have been held for up to three years without trial.

The families had a range of demands. Some wanted their relatives released immediately, while others wanted their relatives to face justice as soon as possible and not languish in prison without trial. Some families also called for a repeal of the Sosma law.

Deputy law and institutional reform minister Ramkarpal Singh previously said the government was aware of the hunger strike and requested the families end their protest while the law reform process was under way. - FMT