SOSMA was passed in Dewan Rakyat on April 17, 2012.
The controversial new law intended to fight and counter terrorism was hotly debated by both sides of the House.
In a statement today, Pua who is DAP national publicity secretary and MP for Petalinbg Jaya Utara said among the issue which was most fiercely discussed was the fact that provisions of SOSMA could be used against individuals deemed to be “carrying out activities detrimental to parliamentary democracy”.
He said that the members of the opposition led by the then Opposition Leader, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim had argued furiously that such a clause of involving “activities detrimental to parliamentary democracy” was too broad and will be subject to abuse by the authorities.
“However, the Member of Parliament for Rembau, Khairy Jamaluddin, and a Minister in Najib’s Cabinet today, had mocked the opposition’s fear, claiming that they were not only unfounded, the letter of the proposed law was extremely clear and had no room for the purported abuse.
“Instead, in his speech on April 16, 2012, he praised the SOSMA Bill which was tabled by the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak himself, was “on the side of civil liberties”.
“He criticised the Opposition Leader for not understanding that activities detrimental to parliamentary democracy means, “an activity carried out by a person or group of persons designed to overthrow or undermine Parliamentary Democracy by violence or unconstitutional means”,” said Pua.
The DAP lawmaker said that subsequently, during his speech on the Amendments to the Penal Code (2012) the next day, Khairy further criticised the opposition’s position as “misleading” and reiterated that legitimate political dissent including peaceful assemblies or even, Bersih “is not detrimental to Parliamentary Democracy”.
Pua quoted Khairy as having said:
“Saya dapati bahawa perbahasan daripada pihak pembangkang bukan mengelirukan tetapi amat lemah sekali sebab tidak mengkaji ataupun sengaja tidak mengakui bahawa sebenarnya apa yang dipinda ini tidaklah terlalu umum, tidaklah terlalu general, tidaklah terlalu longgar dan tidaklah satu peruntukan yang boleh ditafsirkan mengikut sesuka hati siapa-siapa pun.”
“…Kalau nak buat perhimpunan aman atau bersih pun, itu tidak detrimental to Parliamentary Democracy. Itu yang mereka [pembangkang] tak faham. Sudah cukup khusus daripada segi definisi yang diberi.”
Pua however said Bersih chairperson, Maria Chin’s arrest under SOSMA three days ago had materialised all the fears expressed by the opposition MPs when the law was passed 4 years ago.
“Despite only organising a peaceful assembly to seek free and fair elections to ensure a clean government, the Police are investigating her for “activities detrimental to parliamentary democracy” and detained her under SOSMA.
“The question now for the Youth and Sports Minister is, will he now accept that he was over-zealous in his defence of the SOSMA and Penal Code Amendment Bills and his confidence with the authorities’ interpretation of the Acts in the spirit that they were intended was badly misplaced?
“More importantly, will Khairy Jamaluddin do the honourable thing now to demand that Maria Chin be immediately released because she has been wrongfully arrested?,” he asked.
http://www.theedgemarkets.com/my/article/will-khairy-jamaluddin-demand-maria-chin%E2%80%99s-release-asks-dap%E2%80%99s-pua
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- MPs march to Bukit Aman demanding an end to harassment of govt critics (Updated)
- Maria Chin's son fears for her health under Sosma detention, lodges police report
- Maria Chin Abdullah fails to strike out charge against her
- 'Misuse of Sosma law' over detention of Bersih chairman
- Tun M attends candlelight vigil for Maria Chin
