PUNISHING Muslim LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) should not be a competition, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Dr Mujahid Yusof Rawa said after religious authorities in Pahang said it, too, was looking at meting out such punishment.

Pahang’s announcement came a day after two women were each caned six times at the Kuala Terengganu shariah court for having same sex-relations. The two, aged 32 and 22, were also fined RM3,300 each.

Mujahid said caning LGBT offenders should not be seen as a competition or race.

“I don’t know about Pahang. It should not be a competition to punish out of hatred towards such (offences). 

“All law enforcement must be base on the principle of justice and with due process,” Mujahid, who is in charge of Islamic affairs, told The Malaysian Insight.

In Terengganu, one of the most conservative states in the peninsula and governed by Islamist party PAS, the punishment against the two women was carried out by officers from the Kajang Prisons Department at the shariah court in front of 100 witnesses. 

News of the caning made headlines locally and internationally with various women and rights groups condemning it.

Lawyers for Liberty described the public caning an “abhorrent punishment which does not bode well for the way Islam in Malaysia is progressing”.

Its executive director, Latheefa Koya, said the shariah court had the audacity to claim that the caning did not hurt the women and that offenders’ privacy was protected, when the duo were caned in front of 100 people, including bystanders.

“While Islam emphasised on the concept of mercy and the protection of the privacy and dignity of individuals, the punishment on the two women was degrading, humiliating and unIslamic,” she said.

Shariah caning is generally done in private, but some states allow public caning. 

Before the Terengganu incident, public canings were conducted by the shariah court in Tawau, Sabah, in three cases involving adultery and illicit sex.

In July last year, an amendment was made to the Kelantan Shariah Criminal Procedure Enactment 2002 to enable public caning at the court’s discretion in the PAS-ruled east coast state.

Following this, Penang Institute analyst Nidhal Mujahid wrote a paper on public caning in which he said public caning could be conducted without Parliament having to pass the Shariah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) Bill.

The bill better known as RUU355 was tabled early last year by PAS president and Marang MP Abdul Hadi Awang as a private member’s bill to enhance shariah punishments.

Observing that Sabah had done it earlier, Nidhal said the passing of the bill was not necessary and that Kelantan’s amendment would make public caning mandatory.

“In other words, the shariah court loses the power of discretion to disallow public caning after meting out a punishment by whipping.

“Mandatory public caning can become a nationwide trend if other states also follow Kelantan’s lead. It will have wide implication that requires in-depth studies and open discourse.”

Presently, even with the widespread outcry among civil groups, Terengganu’s neighbour, the Barisan Nasional-controlled Pahang also wants to punish LGBT offenders by caning.

Pahang Islamic Department director Mohamad Noor Abdul Rani said it was appropriate and should be supported to show the seriousness of the religious authorities in enforcing the law to curb the LGBT lifestyle.

“We support (the caning) because it represents the beauty of Islam. But there is no decision yet. We are still looking into it,” he was quoted as saying by Bernama.

Mujahid said on the issue of public caning, any law should be made a lesson to the crime or offence committed, but not on the account of one’s dignity. 

“As far as the law is concerned, for in as long as there is no hatred to such crimes and the principle of justice is upheld, it must be respected by all as a matter of executing the law.” – September 5, 2018.