MALAYSIA: Draconian Drug Laws Can Doom Traffickers : ‘We Have a Problem’ : Malaysian Drug Cure: The Noose

Yahaya Ahmad used to run a river bank stall in the northern city of Ipoh, where he sold birds--and marijuana. He was arrested in April, 1984, and last week he was sentenced to be hanged as a drug trafficker.

Yahaya joined 49 others facing the gallows for narcotics convictions here in Malaysia, a country battling its drug problem with an iron fist. Thirty-one convicted drug traffickers have been hanged in the past decade.

“Our laws are tough, and we are unapologetic about what we are doing,” said Musa Hitam, deputy prime minister and the moving force behind Malaysia’s anti-drug program. “We mean business.”

A notice on a wall at Pudu Prison, a squat, weathered jail in the heart of this capital, makes the government’s message clear: “Death! That’s the mandatory sentence for any dadah (drug) trafficker in Malaysia.”

Billboard Warnings

A government publicity campaign also has placed billboards around the country, some illustrated with a noose, warning of the death penalty for trafficking. A similar warning is stamped on airport arrival cards.

Harsh as it may seem, the death penalty is perhaps less controversial here than is the second broad element of the anti-drug laws. Last month, the authorities were empowered to detain suspected drug bosses for an indefinite period, without trial, bail or legal counsel.

“We have a major problem in the streets,” Lee Lam Thye, an opposition member of Parliament who supports a strong crackdown, acknowledged in an interview. “But it was unthinkable to introduce legislation for detention without trial.”

Kingpins the Target

The detention law is aimed at the kingpins of the drug trade, the operators, men too wary and clever to be caught in possession of drugs like Yahaya the bird seller.

The purpose in jailing suspected drug bosses, or restricting their movements under the same law, is mainly to take them out of action. Malaysian law has no provision for conspiracy prosecutions, which have been used by American prosecutors to convict big operators.

The law--similar to Malaysia’s Internal Security Act, which provides for capital punishment for subversion and which also permits detention without trial--has raised fears of abuse of power and concern that the police might use their authority to arrest without warrant to settle some personal score.

“There is no such thing as a safeguard,” Lee said.

Last fall, a select committee of Parliament was appointed to conduct hearings on the original draft of the detention law. The result was a number of checks on police power. Lee and other members of the panel made what he called radical recommendations.

Key provisions of the final act require that:

--No suspect may be detained for more than 24 hours unless it is ordered by an officer of at least the rank of inspector, nor for more than 48 hours except on the order of higher-ranking authority.

--No suspect may be held for more than 60 days except on order of the minister of home affairs, whose decision is to be based on reports filed with him by the police and an independent inquiry officer who must not be a policeman. If the minister approves further detention or restriction after reading the reports, he may order the suspect held for up to two years.

--Before the suspect’s term is completed, an advisory board is to review his case. If it decides that the suspect should be released, the decision is binding. If it recommends further detention, the option is up to the minister, who may order the suspect held for up to two years more.

Law May Be Extended

The process can continue indefinitely as long as the law is in force. The law is to expire in five years, but parliamentary extension is expected despite the controversy over detention without trial.

“Whatever the criticism of these laws,” said Musa, who is both deputy prime minister and home affairs minister, “they are acts of Parliament, passed by Parliament.”

Musa made his comments at a meeting with Western reporters in which he defended the security and drug statutes--”what liberals might call undemocratic means.”

The drug problem holds a high priority in the government. “Fight it or face social and economic destruction,” Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammed has said.

The Ministry of Home Affairs says there are about 100,000 drug addicts in Malaysia. Lee and others say the figure may be four times that, a staggering number in a country of less than 16 million people.

The basic Dangerous Drugs Act is aimed at drug peddlers and couriers and is based on possession at the time of arrest. The death penalty is mandatory for possession of 15 grams of heroin or morphine (all opiate drugs are called dadah), 200 grams of marijuana (called ganja), or 1,000 grams of raw or processed opium. There are about 28 grams to an ounce.

From Golden Triangle

A U.S. Embassy official said the drugs peddled here come from the so-called Golden Triangle, the opium-growing area of Thailand, Burma and Laos.

Malaysia itself is not an opium producer. Who turned Malaysia on? The authorities have no definite answer. The country has long been a conduit for Golden Triangle heroin moving out by sea and air for Europe or Australia, the U.S. official said. Some is probably later transshipped to the United States.

Malaysia has also taken part in the development explosion of Southeast Asia, and the anxieties and upheaval of traditional values that come with it. The combination of access and a changing culture open the doors for narcotics dealers. Traditionally, the trade has been run by Malaysian Chinese, a large minority here, authorities say. But most of the users are ethnic Malays.

Radzi Ahmad, the deputy minister of home affairs, said recently that the government spends nearly $11 million a year on the rehabilitation of addicts.

Drug Program Praised

The U.S. official gave high marks to the country’s drug enforcement program, though he said it is too early to tell whether the detention of suspected kingpins will be an effective deterrent. Whether the death penalty is a deterrent is also open to question.

“Remember,” Parliament member Lee said, “narcotics is a very profitable business.”

The death penalty for drug possession was enacted a decade ago (neighboring Singapore has a similar law). The latest to go to the gallows here was Wong Ah Kow, who received the mandatory sentence for possession of about 80 grams of heroin (about 2.8 ounces) in 1983. He was hanged at dawn in Pudu Prison on July 2.

More than 70 convicted traffickers have been sentenced to death since the penalty was introduced. A handful have seen their sentences commuted to life imprisonment on appeal. The others are waiting on appeals or for an execution date to be set. Three Australians, two New Zealanders and a West German are awaiting trial.

Assets Seizure Studied

The government reportedly is studying laws to seize the assets of suspected drug bosses, but Malaysian and foreign observers mention two other approaches that could do more to solve the problem:

--More international cooperation at both ends of the drug trail that passes through Malaysia. This week, Malaysia and other members of the Assn. of Southeast Asian Nations urged support for a U.N.-proposed international conference on drugs in 1987.

--Increased professionalization of the Malaysian police and other law enforcement units, particularly at low levels. “We are talking about corruption,” Lee, the opposition member of Parliament, said. “There are policemen looking the other way.”