Prevention of Terrorism Act 2015

The Prevention of Terrorism Act 2015 (Malay: Akta Pencegahan Keganasan 2015, abbreviated POTA), is an anti-terrorism law that was passed by the Malaysian government on 7 April 2015. It enables the Malaysian authorities to detain terror suspects without trial for a period of two years. POTA also does not allow any judicial reviews of detentions. Instead, detentions will be reviewed by a special Prevention of Terrorism Board. The POTA bill has been criticised by opposition elements as a reincarnation of the former Internal Security Act, which was revoked in 2012.^[2][3] The passage of POTA coincided with the arrest of seventeen suspected militants who were involved in an alleged terror plot in the capital Kuala Lumpur.^[4]

Prevention of Terrorism Act 2015
Parliament of Malaysia
Long title An Act to provide for the prevention of the commission or support of terrorist acts involving listed terrorist organizations in a foreign country or any part of foreign country and for the control of the persons engaged in such acts and for related matters.
Citation	Act 769
Territorial extent	Malaysia
Passed by	Dewan Rakyat
Passed	6 April 2015
Passed by	Dewan Negara
Passed	23 April 2015
Royal assent	28 May 2015
Commenced	4 June 2015
Effective	1 September 2015, P.U. (B) 345/2015[1]
Legislative history
First chamber: Dewan Rakyat
Bill title	Prevention of Terrorism Bill 2015
Bill citation	D.R. 10/2015
Introduced by	Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar, Deputy Minister of Home Affairs
First reading	30 March 2015
Second reading	6 April 2015
Third reading	6 April 2015
Second chamber: Dewan Negara
Bill title	Prevention of Terrorism Bill 2015
Bill citation	D.R. 10/2015
Member(s) in charge	Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar, Deputy Minister of Home Affairs
First reading	13 April 2015
Second reading	22 April 2015
Third reading	23 April 2015
Related legislation
Prevention of Crime Act 1959 [Act 297]
Keywords
Anti-terrorism
Status: In force

Structure

The Prevention of Terrorism Act 2015, in its current form (as of 4 June 2015), consists of 5 Parts containing 35 sections and 1 schedule (including no amendment).

• Part I: Preliminary
• Part II: Powers of Arrest and Remand
• Part III: Inquiries
• Part IV: Detention and Restriction Orders
• Part V: General
• Schedule

Notes and references

1. "Prevention of Terrorism Act 2015: Appointment of Date Coming into Operation" (PDF). Attorney General's Chamber of Malaysia. Retrieved 5 April 2016.
2. "Parliament passes controversial anti-terrorism law by 70 to 69 votes". Malaysian Insider. 7 April 2015. Archived from the original on 8 April 2015. Retrieved 7 April 2015.
3. Sivanandam, Hemanathani; Carvalho, Martin; Cheah, Christine (7 April 2015). "Malaysia parliament passes anti-terrorism legislation after long debate". Jakarta Post. Retrieved 7 April 2015.
4. "Malaysia arrests 17 for alleged terrorist attack plot in Kuala Lumpur". The Guardian. Associated Press. 6 April 2015. Retrieved 7 April 2015.

External links

• Prevention of Terrorism Act 2015 This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.