Malaysia to start security law reforms next week

KUALA LUMPUR–Malaysia will move to abolish two minor security laws next week but wait to scrap the tougher Internal Security Act (ISA) until next year, the prime minister said.

Prime Minister Najib Razak pledged last month to abolish the dreaded ISA, which allows indefinite detention without trial, and reform other laws which opposition leaders and activists have long criticised as outdated and cruel.

Najib said late Friday that he would table motions in Parliament next week to scrap two laws which restrict criminal suspects’ movements and allow for them to be exiled.

“Whatever we can speed up, we speed up,” Najib was quoted as saying by the national news agency Bernama as saying.

“This indicates that we have a comprehensive agenda to make Malaysia not only developed economically but also to be on par with other nations which practise the so-called modern progressive democracy,” he said.

But a motion to scrap the ISA would only be tabled in Parliament next March as the government is still drafting two other laws to replace that legislation and prevent criminal acts and violence, Najib said.

His aide confirmed Saturday that the government would aim to pass motions to repeal the Banishment Act and the Restricted Residence Act in the next Parliament sitting, which begins Monday and ends in December.

Najib made a surprise announcement as part of his Malaysia Day speech on September 15 that several security laws would be reformed, a promise that came with snap polls widely expected to be called well before their 2013 due date.

Activists have long criticised the decades-old ISA and other laws, which have been used to detain terror suspects and alleged human traffickers but also opposition politicians and activists.

They say those guilty of crimes should be charged in court and not held indefinitely.