Indefinite detention without trial in Malaysia
A law dating back to 1969, enacted to tackle an emergency situation, allows the authorities to detain people indefinitely without trial and to ill treat them. Calls for a repeal of this law are mounting.
Kuala Lumpur (AsiaNews/HRW) Thanks to an Emergency Ordinance dating back more than 30 years, the Malaysian government is holding more than 700 criminal suspects indefinitely without trial or charge. This was revealed by Human Rights Watch (HRW).
This law allows for indefinite detention without trial for suspected criminals, beatings and torture, and re-arrest after court-ordered release. In June, the Malaysian press reported that the police rearrested 11 former detainees as they attempted to walk out of the Simpang Renggam detention centre after their release.
Although the Malaysian criminal code allows pre-trial detention for only 15 days, the police often change charges against suspects who are already in detention, seeking an Emergency Ordinance order. HRW claimed that indefinite detention is also applied in cases where police fail to collect evidence to charge a suspect in court.
The Emergency Ordinance was enacted in 1969 as a "temporary measure" to respond to ethnic riots. But in the ensuing decades, the government has used the law to detain, without trial and for lengthy periods, people who do not even have the right to know the charges against them.
"Emergency Ordinance detainees live in a world of uncertainty, never knowing when they will be released," said Sahr MuhammedAlly, HRW expert on this law. Once released, "there is no guarantee that they will not be rearrested and detained for the same alleged offense.
Emergency Ordinance detainees held at Simpang Renggam detention centre live in inhumane conditions, in overcrowded cells with poor hygiene and inedible food. After visiting the centre, even the Malaysian Bar Council and the Parliamentary Caucus on Human Rights concluded that the centre was overcrowded and badly maintained.
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07/02/2019 17:28
