Mahathir: SOSMA will be retained for other related charges
BANGI: Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said Malaysia still need the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act (SOSMA) to help maintain the security of the country.
Mahathir said the act is needed to help detained people who are involved in activities that threaten the country’s security.
“There are a lot of things that we have, not only involvement of (terror activities such as) Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and Islamic State (IS),” he said after officiating Malaysia Future Leaders School Convention (MPLS) at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) here today.
Mahathir was commenting on the call to amend or abolished SOSMA by Communication and Multimedia Minister Gobind Singh Deo yesterday.
The prime minister said all those people that are involved in activities linked to terrorism need to be detained.
PH has recently received brickbats for going back on its promise to repeal draconian laws, as stated in its election manifesto, following a crackdown on people accused of links with LTTE, while rights group Suaram has called for a moratorium on the use of Sosma following the arrest of 12 suspects.
The families of the 12 men currently detained under the Security Offenses (Special Measures) Act 2012 (Sosma) over alleged links to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) held a peaceful protest outside the Parliament yesterday.
Among those who went to meet the protesters were Communications and Multimedia Minister Gobind Singh Deo, Bukit Gelugor MP Ramkarpal Singh and Klang MP Charles Santiago.
Calling it a sad day for Parliament, Santiago questioned the governments’ double standards in dealing with those claimed to have links to LTTE and those caught involved with Islamic state.
By Irman Hashim and Uqbah Soperi
