Friday October 12, 2012

MCA wants a fair and impartial research paper on PAS’ plan

PETALING JAYA: MCA has invited the Bar Council to conduct a thorough study on PAS' hudud law and the implications of its implementation, said the party's legal bureau chairman Tay Puay Chan.

He said these included studying the circumstances which would make hudud implementation possible in Malaysia.

Tay said MCA was concerned if hudud, which would serve as an alternative criminal code, would “inevitably cause injustice” to non-Muslims despite PAS' claims to the contrary.

“The MCA believes it is of public interest for legal experts to look into the means by which the rights of non-Muslims would be protected if they are implicated in a criminal charge involving Muslims,” he said in a statement yesterday.

Tay expressed hope that the Bar Council would also study the Kelantan Government's Syariah Criminal Code Enactment and how its provisions would be interpreted for criminal cases involving both Muslims and non-Muslims if implemented at state and federal levels.

Given the debate that hudud had sparked off, Tay said a fair and impartial research paper was needed to help policy makers and the public understand the complexity of having two criminal codes in place.

He listed several aspects of concern that the study should cover, including the possibility and circumstances enabling the amendment of the Federal Constitution to include PAS' hudud; the religious duties of Muslim legislators in supporting a Bill to amend the Constitution to include Islamic laws; the protection of non-Muslims rights and their freedom to choose to be tried under the Penal Code for crimes involving both Muslims and non-Muslims; and the admissibility of non-Muslim witness accounts in criminal cases involving Muslims under hudud.

“(Another aspect is) the analysis of clauses in PAS' hudud enactment for Kelantan and Terengganu and its implication on criminal trials in Malaysia,” he said.

Tay said Pakatan Rakyat's other component parties had yet to state their position on PAS' determination to implement its version of hudud.

“PKR and DAP have merely brushed it off as a non-agenda in their common manifesto, the Buku Jingga. In the name of democratic principles, MCA feels it imperative that political parties and their leaders make their stand clear on issues like hudud if they are seeking public office,” he said.

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Friday October 12, 2012

MCA wants a fair and impartial research paper on PAS’ plan