Dr M: Amendments to draconian laws, including detention without trial imminent

PUTRAJAYA, Nov 5 — Amendments to draconian laws such as the Special Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 will be made soon, said Pakatan Harapan (PH) chairman Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad today.

He is hoping for the amendments to be made either by this Parliament sitting or the next.

“That is what we discussed today during our meeting earlier.

“Even though we are not going to abolish these laws, but we are going to make changes to the parts which are ‘draconian’.

“We will look into amending the part such as detention without trial. This will be done as soon as possible to prevent abuse of these laws,” he said after the PH presidential council meeting here.

When asked if the ‘expedition’ of said amendments was due the recent arrests linked to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), Dr Mahathir said these amendments were long overdue.

“We have made this promise before, but we were delayed due to a few factors.

“We will do it as soon as possible,” he added.

A total of 12 men, including two DAP assemblymen, were arrested in October and are currently detained under Sosma.

They were charged on October 29 and 31 with multiple offences related to defunct terror group LTTE.

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