PETALING JAYA: The Federal Constitution does not allow two parallel criminal systems to exist, according to human rights lawyer and activist Malik Imtiaz Sarwar.
He believed that such a parallel system would lead to human rights discrimination.
“It would discriminate Muslims and non-Muslims as the former could choose to be charged under a system which carries a lighter punishment,” said Malik, who is National Human Rights Society president.
Malik pointed out that certain punishments under hudud law would not be consistent with international human rights norms, adding that the introduction of the law would create legal overlaps, inconsistencies and uneven application of criminal law across the board.
This was because it encompassed certain crimes that were already covered by federal laws to some extent, he explained.
He said state legislative powers to determine criminal conduct were limited to crimes involving morality within the context of Islamic law.
“One example is not attending Friday prayers.
“However, the federal legislative body is in charge of crimes in the conventional sense, like robbery,” he said.
He also pointed out that the Supreme Court's decision in the case of Che Omar Che Soh vs Public Prosecutor (1988) clearly affirmed Malaysia's position as a secular and not Islamic country.
“So politicians from both sides of the divide should stop politicising the issue,” he said.
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