WITHDRAW THE PROPOSED AMENDMENT TO THE ENAKMEN KANUN JENAYAH SYARIAH II 1993 NEGERI KELANTAN

Twenty two Malaysian civil society organizations issued a joint statement today urging the Kelantan State Government to uphold the supremacy of the Federal Constitution and withdraw the proposed amendment to the Enakmen Kanun Jenayah Syariah II 1993 Negri Kelantan. In their statement they said:

“We, the undersigned civil society organisations, would like to express our deepest concern about the the tabling of the EnakmenKanun Jenayah Syariah II (Pindaan 2015) in the Kelantan State Assembly by the Kelantan State Government.

We are of the opinion that this move is not consistent with the Federal Constitution and anyone that wishes to introduce the hudud law in Malaysia, whether at the State or Federal level, should first move a motion in the national Parliament to amend the Federal Constitution, which will require the support of two thirds of the Members of Parliament.

However, beyond the lawmaking process, we would like to call for an open discourse and debate on the issue of hudud. As the implementation of hudud will, without any doubt, affect all Malaysians regardless of religious affiliation, ethnic background or state of residence, all Malaysians should be allowed to discuss the issue as all are stakeholders of this country.

Non-Muslims should not be silenced just because they are allegedly not affected by the Islamic laws. Any Muslim who wish to be involved in the discussion should also be allowed to do so without their religious credentials being questioned.

An open discussion of the implementation of Islamic laws, particularly hudud, is long overdue. Now is the time for all of the supporters and critics of hudud to discuss it openly and scrutinise each other’s position.

(For further enquiry please contact GBM Secretariat at 03-2272 3594 / 017-3985 606 or email [email protected].)

Endorsing organisations: