MIC: Hudud cannot exist alongside secular law

KUALA LUMPUR: Hudud cannot exist alongside secular criminal law and has no place in multiracial Malaysia, said MIC.

Its legal adviser Selva Mookiah said that hudud would create conflicts with the country’s secular criminal law system and the Federal Constitution.

“The Kelantan MPs will of course score vital points among the conservatives by proposing a hudud system to govern the Muslims but they should at least stop to ponder what happens when the two systems collide,” Selva said in a statement.

Citing recent “conversion, divorce, custody care and control of minors debacles”, he said there were many reasons why the hudud and secular criminal law systems would fail to exist parallel to each other.

“For instance, if a rape is occasioned by a Muslim man against a non-Muslim woman, will the prosecutors need to produce four witnesses to substantiate their evidence? If the reverse occurs will the non-Muslim man be entitled to seek four witnesses in his defence?

“Can the hudud courts compel or even accept the evidence of non-Muslims who may be the only witnesses to a crime committed by a Muslim? Will the evidence of a non-Muslim carry the same evidential weight as that of a Muslim?” Selva asked.

MIC strategic director Datuk Seri S. Vell Paari said the party would join four Barisan Nasional component parties to object to the PAS attempt to impose hudud in Kelantan.

“We will not welcome any changes that could threaten the foundation of the country,” he said.

MIC Youth secretary Arvind Krishnan said he hoped Pakatan Rakyat would not “betray the people who voted for them” by allowing PAS to table a private member’s Bill in the Dewan Rakyat to implement hudud in Kelantan.

“Such an initiative is not only unconstitutional but against the culture of our multi religious and multi cultural nation. This Bill is a step towards division and disunity in our peaceful country,” he said.