Proposal for a new enactment for Treason Law

High treason is described as treason against one's country or sovereign by answers.com.

According to Wikipedia, high treason is criminal disloyalty to one's monarch or country. Participating in a war against one's country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplomats, or its secret services for a hostile and foreign power, or attempting to kill its head of state are perhaps the best-known examples of high treason. High treason requires that the alleged traitor has obligations of loyalty in the state he or she betrayed, such as citizenship, although presence in the state at the time is sufficient. Foreign spies, assassins, and saboteurs, though not suffering the dishonor associated with conviction for high treason, may still be tried and punished judicially for acts of espionage, assassination, or sabotage, though in contemporary times, foreign spies and saboteurs are usually repatriated following capture. High treason is considered a serious offense, and carries the death penalty in some countries.

The Official Secrets Act of Singapore stipulates:

Penalties for spying
3. —(1) If any person for any purpose prejudicial to the safety or interests of Singapore —

(a) approaches, inspects, passes over or is in the neighbourhood of, or enters any prohibited place within the meaning of this Act;

(b) makes any photograph, drawing, plan, model or note which is calculated to be or might be or is intended to be directly or indirectly useful to a foreign Power or to an enemy; or

(c) obtains, collects, records, publishes or communicates to any other person any secret official code word, countersign or password, or any photograph, drawing, plan, model, article or note, or other document or information which is calculated to be or might be or is intended to be directly or indirectly useful to a foreign Power or to an enemy,

he shall be guilty of an offence.

(2) Any person who takes or makes any photograph, drawing, map, measurement, sounding or survey of or within a prohibited place, shall, unless he proves that the thing so taken or made is not prejudicial to the safety or interests of Singapore and is not intended to be directly or indirectly useful to a foreign Power or to an enemy, be guilty of an offence:

Provided that it shall not be an offence under this subsection to take or make, outside a prohibited place, a photograph or drawing in which such place or part thereof is included, unless it is proved that the photograph or drawing is intended to be prejudicial to the safety or interests of Singapore or to be directly or indirectly useful to a foreign Power or to an enemy. This proviso does not apply to any photograph taken from an aircraft.

(3) The taking or making of any photograph, drawing, map, measurement, sounding or survey in accordance with the terms and conditions in such permit as the competent authority sees fit to give shall not be an offence under subsection (2). It may be a term or condition of that permit that anything so taken or made shall immediately be submitted to the competent authority for examination who, if satisfied that there is reasonable cause to believe that the thing so taken or made contains matter or information prejudicial to the safety or interests of Singapore and directly or indirectly useful to a foreign Power or to an enemy, shall send it to the Minister, and the Minister may give such orders in respect of the thing as he is empowered to give under subsection (8).

(4) The Minister may, by notification in the Gazette, provide who shall be the competent authority for the purposes of subsection (3).

(5) Any person who makes or assists in making a declaration or statement false in any material respect for the purpose of obtaining a permit from a competent authority shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction before a District Court to a fine not exceeding $2,000, or before a Magistrate’s Court to a fine not exceeding $1,000.

(6) On a prosecution under this section, it shall not be necessary to show that the accused person was guilty of any particular act tending to show a purpose prejudicial to the safety or interests of Singapore, and, notwithstanding that no such act is proved against him, he may be convicted if, from the circumstances of the case, or his conduct, or his known character as proved, or from his having acted in contravention of section 6 or in the manner mentioned in section 7, it appears that his purpose was a purpose prejudicial to the safety or interests of Singapore and if any photograph, drawing, plan, model, article, note, document or information relating to or used in any prohibited place within the meaning of this Act, or anything in such a place, or any secret official code word, countersign or password is made, obtained, collected, recorded, published or communicated by any person other than a person acting under lawful authority, it shall be deemed to have been made, obtained, collected, recorded, published or communicated for a purpose prejudicial to the safety or interests of Singapore unless the contrary is proved.

(7) If a Magistrate’s Court is satisfied that there is reasonable cause to believe that a photograph or drawing contains matter or information prejudicial to the safety or interests of Singapore and directly or indirectly useful to a foreign Power or to an enemy, the Court may issue a search warrant to search for and seize such photograph or drawing even though an offence under this Act is not alleged to had been committed.

(8) The photograph or drawing, if seized under the search warrant or voluntarily produced by the person in whose possession it is, shall be sent by the Court to the Minister, and the Minister may if he considers that the photograph or drawing contains matter or information prejudicial to the safety or interests of Singapore and directly or indirectly useful to a foreign Power or to an enemy, order the photograph or drawing to be forfeited, or order that any part of the photograph or drawing be obliterated, erased or removed.

The Singapore's Official Secrets Act can be viewed here.

Many countries in this world have specific Acts regarding TREASON. For example:

- Australia -->Section 80.1 of the Criminal Code, contained in the schedule of the Criminal Code Act 1995

New South Wales --> The Treason Act 1795 and the Treason Act 1817 have been repealed by section 11 of the Crimes Act 1900.

Section 12 of the Crimes Act 1900 (NSW) creates an offence which is derived from section 3 of the Treason Felony Act 1848.

Section 16 provides that nothing in Part 2 repeals or affects anything enacted by the Treason Act 1351 (25 Edw.3 c.2). This section reproduces section 6 of the Treason Felony Act 1848.

Victoria --> The offence of treason was created by section 9A(1) of the Crimes Act 1958.

- Brazil -->According to Brazilian law, treason is the crime of disloyalty by a citizen to the Federal Republic of Brazil, applying to combatants of the Brazilian military forces. Treason during warfare is the only crime for which a person can be sentenced to death.

- Canada -->Section 46 of the Criminal Code of Canada has two degrees of treason, called "high treason" and "treason." However, both of these belong to the historical category of high treason, as opposed to petty treason which does not exist in Canadian law.

- France -->Article 411-1 of the French Penal Code defines treason as follows:

"The acts defined by articles 411-2 to 411-11 constitute treason where they are committed by a French national or a soldier in the service of France, and constitute espionage where they are committed by any other person."

- Germany-->The German law differentiates between two types of treason: "High treason" (Hochverrat) under Section 81[3] of the German criminal code and "treason" (Landesverrat) is defined in Section 94 [1].

- Ireland-->The Treason Act 1939 gave legislative effect to Article 39. For other offences against national security, see the Offences against the State Acts 1939-1998.

Before 1937, there was Section 1(1) of the Treasonable Offences Act 1925 (enacted under the 1922 Constitution).

- New Zealand-->treason laws that are stipulated under the Crimes Act 1961 and Section 73 of the Crimes Act.

- Russia-->Article 275 of the Criminal Code of Russia.

- Turkey-->Under the Turkish civil law and Turkish Military Law.

- United Kingdom-->Treason Act 1351 (25 Edw. 3 St. 5 c. 2), Treason Act 1702 (1 Anne stat. 2 c. 21), Treason Act 1708 and Treason Felony Act 1848.

- United States-->Article III Section 3 delineates treason. 1798 Alien and Sedition Acts, 1917 Espionage Act.

Malaysian members of the parliament should propose a new law so that traitorous Malaysians can be charged by the law because we know that there are individuals who are the agents for the foreign power.

If we can charge a death penalty for the drug lords, we should do the same towards these traitorous individuals.