KUALA LUMPUR: About 100 family members of individuals detained under the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 (Sosma) marched from Padang Merbok to the Parliament building today to hand over a memorandum to Home Minister Muhyiddin Yassin.

The protesters, carrying banners with slogans like “Hentikan akta firaun” (Stop draconian laws), were escorted by police officers throughout the march.

They had planned to hold a demonstration outside Parliament in solidarity with the detainees but were prevented from doing so by the police.

This led to a short argument which was resolved after negotiations led by Suaram executive director Sevan Doraisamy and Mahathir Abdul Rahman, the director of NGO Desak Sampai Mansuh which had organised the protest.

Several representatives were then allowed to enter the compound to meet with the minister.

Sevan said they initially planned for the memorandum to be handed over by 15 representatives and family members, but added that “for some reason today, there were more restrictions”.

Sosma was among the laws Pakatan Harapan had pledged to abolish in its manifesto for the May 9 polls.

Under Sosma, an individual can be detained for a maximum of 28 days, and police can delay his or her access to family and legal counsel for up to 48 hours after arrest.

Among those previously detained under the law were 1MDB critic Khairuddin Abu Hassan and his lawyer Matthias Chang, and former Bersih 2.0 chairman Maria Chin Abdullah who was detained for 11 days for her role in leading the Bersih 5 rally in Kuala Lumpur in November 2016.

According to Suaram’s Kua Kia Soong, there are currently more than 1,000 Sosma detainees in the country.

Meanwhile, Maria, now the Petaling Jaya MP, said every detail of Sosma arrests should be documented.

“This is the evidence that we will need to try and abolish the law,” she said, adding that she understood their grievances as she too had been detained under the same law.

The memorandum among others called for a moratorium on Sosma pending a review.

Suaram and DSM had also asked for a review on the procedures in the rehabilitation of detainees.

They said those who had already served their sentence should be spared from future action under other security laws.

The memorandum also said detainees should be allowed more time outside their cells and to be involved in vocational activities like other inmates, and not subjected to solitary confinement unless they are a risk to other inmates.

Suaram and DSM also suggested in the memorandum that a tribunal be set up to investigate allegations that abuse.