KOTA BARU: Plans to amend Syariah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act 1965 to enable heavier penalties for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgenders (LGBT) are in line with the current situation and technological development in the country.
Deputy Minister in Prime Minister's Department (Religious Affairs) Ahmad Marzuk Shaary said this was also to ensure the country's legal aspects would not be left behind.
"I take note of the feedback from all on the government's plan to amend the Syariah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act 1965 or also known as Act 355 involving the group.
"I would like to give an example of a situation according to the Federal Territory's Syariah law. If a religious officer was informed there was a 'mak nyah' around, he (the religious officer) could not take action just because the person is a 'mak nyah''.
"The officer needs to prove that the 'mak nyah' is in a public place and was there for some immoral purposes.
"In this issue, our legal aspect is a little behind for if the immoral behaviour of the group is uploaded to social media, it still does not count as a public place," he said in a statement.
Therefore, the Pengkalan Chepa MP said all relevant laws under the current Act 355 need to be amended and the move would be done in stages.
Ahmad Marzuk said he would ensure two things would be added in the amendment.
Firstly, he said gender change should be made a specific offence under Act 355 in Shariah Criminal law.
"Secondly, social media content related to all acts of the opposite sex deemed indecent and obscene will also be placed as one of the types of Syariah online offences," he said.
Ahmad Marzuk said a special task force was set up to handle the issues related with Muslim LGBTs.
"The committee comprises more than 20 members from various organisations, and has held its first meeting last December," he added.
Yesterday, Human rights group Lawyers for Liberty (LFL) warned the government against targeting Muslim transgender community following the government's plan to amend the Act 355.
LFL coordinator Zaid Malek said it was a breach of Article 8 of the Federal Constitution which forbids discrimination on the basis of gender.
The group urged the government to not take such a restrictive view of Islamic law and follow the footsteps of other Muslim-majority countries that have already recognised the legitimate rights of the transgender community.
Zaid cited countries including Egypt and Iran that allowed gender reassignment surgeries and Pakistan which has also enacted laws to protect the rights of transgender persons.
The group slammed Ahmad Marzuk's statement which also entailed immediate action to be taken against those who cross-dress.
Ahmad Marzuk had said recently that the government had not ruled out the possibility of amending Act 355 to provide heavier punishments against the LGBT community.
He had said the current punishments under the act, which provides for imprisonment of three years, a fine of RM5,000 and six strokes of the cane, did not appear to be having much effect.