Kelantan's hudud bill amendments passed

Kelantan State Assembly.

KOTA BARU: Amendments to Kelantan's Syariah Criminal Code 1993 were passed unamiously by the State Legislative Assembly here on Thursday.

The amendments were passed at 12.05pm after more than two and a half hours of debates by four state assemblymen and two winding-up speeches including one by Mentri Besar Datuk Ahmad Yaakob.

Ahmad's motion was supported by his deputy Datuk Mohd Amar Abdullah.

The vote was passed unanimously by 44 assemblymen comprising 31 from PAS, 12 from Umno and one from PKR.

Earlier, in his winding-up speech, Ahmad (PAS-Pasir Pekan) said the passing of the amendments was a historic move for Kelantan as it received support of all lawmakers, transcending political and individual agendas.

"Our journey has been a long one fraught with many obstacles. Today, we are a step further in making hudud a reality in Kelantan.

"It will take another journey through Parliament to reach our final destination. Whether it is passed or not is the will of Allah," he said before the amendments were passed.

Ahmad, who is also the PAS deputy spiritual leader, assured non-Muslims that hudud laws would not apply to them and only to all Muslims in the state.

He added that the Kelantan Government would abide by the rule of law and not find a "short cut" for hudud to be enforced in Kelantan.

"We will go through due process and hopefully it will be enforced by this year," he added.

Deputy Mentri Besar Datuk Mohd Amar later said the Kelantan government would try to get the Bill passed in Parliament as soon as possible.

"Since the Parliament meeting is on-going, we plan to rush both Bills to be tabled by a PAS MP to get the final nod for hudud to be practised in Kelantan," he said.