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NEWS ALERT:       A group of 20 MPs from PKR have backed Gombak MP Mohd Azmin Ali to contest for the party deputy president post            

Mon, 06 Sep 2010
NEWS WITHOUT BORDERS :: Local News
Govt should consider abolishing ISA: Abdullah

SINTOK (July 17, 2009):
The government should consider abolishing the Internal Security Act (ISA) which carries negative perception, and replace it with a new law which allows for preventive detention while protecting the fundamental rights of the people.

Former prime minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said the ISA had given too  much power and perhaps too wide a scope to the authorities to determine what were threats to security.

"As the Home Minister then, I had signed many orders for detention without trial under the ISA, but with the present government wanting to review the effectiveness and impact of the ISA, I feel obliged to give my sincere views on the Act.

"But it should be stressed that Malaysia still needs a preventive detention mechanism in the interest of national security and the challenges we face today, such as terrorism across borders, which requires a law which enables the government to undertake preventive measures."

Abdullah said this in his speech at a special convocation ceremony where he was conferred an Hononary Ph.D in Democracy at Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM) here today, with the Sultan of Kedah Tuanku Abdul Halim Mu'adzam Shah presenting the scroll to Abdullah.

"Whether we like it or not, the ISA has been stigmatised as a negative element to the agenda of strengthening democracy and renewal in the country. So, this calls for the government to be brave to discard the old and open a new chapter," he said.

Abdullah believed that the goverment must be courageous to bring about such change (abolishing the ISA) as its commitment to the agenda of democratic renewal in the country.

"I believe this is the transformation that the people are expecting, as a preventive measure should not sacrifice fundamental human rights or to be misused for a political objective.

"Perhaps one solution is to limit the scope of preventive detention to certain threats only or to draw up a new Act specifically to prevent terrorist activities, hence reducing the chances of abuse of power for a political interest," he said. - Bernama

Updated: 02:58PM Fri, 17 Jul 2009
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