Denying Bail To Men Is Gender Discrimination Says Judge

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The Ipoh High Court ruled that Section 13 of the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act (Sosma) is in breach of the gender equality provision under the Federal Constitution.IPOH: The High Court here has ruled that men are equally entitled as women to get bail though charged with security offences.
Judicial commissioner Su Tiang Joo said this is because Section 13 of the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act (Sosma) is in breach of the gender equality provision under Article 8 of the Federal Constitution.
The Sosma provision states bail will be denied to those facing security offences but the exceptions are when a person is aged below 18, a woman, or a sick or infirm person.
Su said Section 13 discriminated against men from being granted bail when such a right is given to women.

Judicial commissioner Su Tiang Joo.“Such discrimination goes against the non-gender discrimination provision housed within the fundamental liberty of equality, which is expressly provided in Article 8(1) and (2) of the Federal Constitution,” he said in his judgment to grant bail for eight men facing charges for being members of an organised criminal group named “Kumpulan Viki Naidu”.
The eight were D Enthiran, D Ganesan, P Velmurugan, K Ganesan, S Vinodh, S Anandh Kumar, G Kesavan and K Prabu.
If convicted they could be punished with imprisonment of up to 20 years.
Su said “woman” in the Sosma provision must include “men” and they are entitled to apply for bail.
The judge said women are as equally capable of committing security offences as men and any discrimination would not qualify as a rational or reasonable classification.
Su said Sosma, a procedural law enacted under Article 149 to check subversion and acts prejudicial to public order, could remove four fundamental rights but not the right to equality.
Su imposed RM30,000 bail on each of the men in two sureties and ordered that they be fitted with an electronic monitoring device to keep tabs on their movements.
They are also to surrender their passports to the court and are prohibited from communicating with any of the witnesses until the disposal of the trial. - FMT

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