PUTRAJAYA: Views of lawmakers will be sought to make improvements to the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act (Sosma) 2021, says the Home Minister.
Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin said he was open to suggestions from MPs from both sides of the divide on how the Act could better serve the country.
“I am very open to this. But for now, we need to retable the (Sosma) motion and get it passed in Parliament.
“Once this is done, we can immediately sit down for discussions. I will initiate something,” he said after attending the Immigration Day celebration here on Thursday (July 21).
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On Wednesday (July 20), Hamzah had tabled a motion in the Dewan Rakyat to revoke an earlier decision not to extend the detention period of suspects under Sosma.
The passing of the motion paves the way for the ministry to retable a motion – expected to be on Tuesday (July 26) – to extend Sosma which will expire on July 31.
During the debate, the Opposition had said that lawmakers should come together to give views on how improvements could be made to the Act.
Hamzah said among the areas that could be looked into was to determine whether the time someone was detained under Sosma would be determined by the alleged crime committed.
“We shall figure this out later. We need to ensure the coming retabling gets passed,” he added.
During the previous Dewan Rakyat session, the motion to extend the enforcement of subsection 4(5) of Sosma which allows for the detention of suspects for up to 28 days without trial was voted down by MPs.
ALSO READ: Dewan Rakyat votes against five-year extension of 28-day detention under Sosma
On March 23, a motion by Hamzah to extend the subsection in Sosma for another five years beginning July 31 this year was defeated after it was put to a vote following a heated debate.
At the event, Hamzah commended the Immigration Department for achieving the two medium-term targets set for this year.
“In fact, it has exceeded one of the targets, where RM2.28bil in revenue has been collected, more than the RM1.4bil that the department had set its sights on,” he said.
