Malaysia passes controversial anti-terror Bill

The Malaysian government has pushed through controversial anti-terror legislation in the lower house, after parliamentarians hotly debated the Bill till well after 2am on Tuesday.

The Prevention of Terrorism Bill 2015 (POTA) was first tabled in the House of Representatives last week before being presented for a second reading in parliament on Monday morning (Apr 6).

The debate lasted for more than 12 hours with the government apparently intent on passing the Bill, invoking Standing Order 90(2) to stop the clock before midnight, to let discussions continue.

This is reportedly only the fourth time this has happened in Malaysian history.

The government has pushed for POTA as a means to crack down on terror threats on Malaysia. On Sunday, 17 people were detained under suspicion of planning acts of terror in the nation's capital Kuala Lumpur.

Home Minister Zahid Hamidi said during the debate that the suspects, aged 14 to 44, had planned on targeting police stations and army camps to obtain firearms. They also allegedly wanted to kidnap high-profile individuals. 

But critics have panned the laws for violating human rights and for provisions that make detention orders under the act immune from judicial scrutiny.

Malaysia's Bar Council has slammed the Bill as "repugnant to the principles of natural justice" - with provisions that allow for detention without trial for up to two years.

Opposition MPs also fear the Bill will be used against them, despite a clause that excludes political belief or activity as grounds for detention. They proposed but failed to implement amendments to the Bill they felt would balance the law's objectives with democratic principles. 

The final vote for the third reading of the Bill was 79 to 60.