Terengganu to amend 'illicit sex' provisions in Hudud bill: PAS
The Terengganu state government will amend the provisions to zina (illicit sex) and qazaf (slanderous accusation) in its proposed Syariah Criminal Law ( Hudud and Qisas ), said a state lawmaker today.
"We would be amending some technicalities and these would include witnesses in these two areas," PAS Kuala Terengganu assemblyperson Syed Azman Syed Ahmad Nawawi told malaysiakini today.
However, he did elaborate further on how these provisions would be changed.
The state government was scheduled to table the controversial Syariah Criminal Law bill at its state assembly next month but postponed it to July in order to have some provisions amended.
According to Syed Azman, the state government had wanted to amend bill after receiving input from several quarters during a seminar organised by the PAS-controlled state government.
"We held the seminar two weeks ago with over 2,000 participants and we gathered the input from non-governmental organisations as well as Christian, Buddhist and Hindu groups," Syed Azman said.
Discriminates against women
The bill stirred a hornet's nest as several NGO's and women's groups, such as Sisters In Islam, voiced their concern saying the provisions within the bill were discriminatory towards women and rape victims.
The groups specifically mentioned sections 9, 43(1) and 48(2) of the proposed bill which mainly focused on rape and zina .
They claimed that under these sections, a woman who reports that she has been raped will be charged with qazaf and flogged 80 lashes if she is unable to prove the rape.
They said that the provisions also provide that an unmarried woman who is pregnant is assumed to have committed zina even if she is raped, and disqualified women's credibility as witnesses.
Yesterday, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Dr Rais Yatim also said that state governments do not have the power to enact laws on criminal matters, adding that it was the exclusive domain of the federal government.
"But in my view, a state cannot do that (implement its own criminal code) and that only the federal government can enact such laws and it is quite clearly provided for under the Federal Constitution," Rais told reporters yesterday.
Not in totality
Responding to Rais's statement, Syed Azman said that the Terengganu government would continue to implement the bill in the state.
"We will try to implement whatever we can in the framework of the state government but beyond that we will have to wait for the permission of the federal government.
"Whatever we can we will implement, but we cannot execute the laws in totality. At least we can record it as being passed," Syed Azman said.
He, however, hoped that the Barisan Nasional-dominated federal government would understand the importance of the bill.
"Syariah law in context of Muslim law is very important to the Malay Muslim community in Kelantan and Terengganu and it is serious enough to have it go through," Syed Azman said.
Commenting on claims that the bill was discriminatory, Syed Azman advised SIS to look at the existing Syariah laws before criticising the proposed Syariah Criminal Law bill.
"They should look at the Syariah laws in various states which have been in place for 40 years and should look at the existing limitations in those laws," Syed Azman said.
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