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Sunday, January 25, 2015

Lawyer reveals how landmark transgender ruling affects all Malaysians

Constitutional lawyer Firdaus Husni speaks during a forum on human rights and the Malaysian transgender community in Kelana Jaya today. – The Malaysian Insider pic by Mukhriz Hazim, January 24, 2015.Constitutional lawyer Firdaus Husni speaks during a forum on human rights and the Malaysian transgender community in Kelana Jaya today. – The Malaysian Insider pic by Mukhriz Hazim, January 24, 2015.
The Appellate Court’s favourable decision toward three transwomen by declaring invalid a state shariah law criminalising cross-dressing impacts all Malaysians, Bar Council constitutional law committee chair Firdaus Husni told a forum today.
She added that the decision was important as it upheld the basic rights promised under the Federal Constitution.
Firdaus was commenting on the court’s decision on November 7, 2014, which allowed an appeal brought by three Muslim bridal make-up artists and declared Section 66 of the Negri Sembilan Shariah Criminal Enactment 1992 invalid and unconstitutional.
She said of the nine human rights articles in the constitution, the appeals court affirmed four of them.
They are Article 5 on the right to live with dignity, Article 8 on gender equality, Article 9 on freedom of movement and Article 10 on freedom of speech and expression.
"This is why the case is not just about the three transwomen, but affects you and me as well where our fundamental liberties are concerned," she told the Human Rights and the Malaysian Transcommunity forum in Petaling Jaya.
A three-member panel chaired by Justice Datuk Mohd Hishamudin Mohd Yunus held that the shariah enactment discriminated against Muslim men with a medical condition called gender identity disorder (GID).
Hishamudin said Section 66 which penalised Muslim men, who dressed or posed as women in public places, did not provide an exception for those with GID, but simply ignored them and unfairly subjected them to the enforcement of the law.
The Court of Appeal overturned a high court's dismissal of the trio's judicial review application to declare Section 66 unconstitutional.
The Federal Court will on January 27 hear an application by the Negri Sembilan government and four others to seek leave to appeal against the appellate court's decision.
Firdaus today also said that setting up a shariah court on par with the federal court could not be done, despite remarks by Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Jamil Khir Baharom.
She added that any attempt to do so would require a complete overhaul of the constitution.
"The shariah court is at the same level as a magistrate's court. It is established under the purview of the state. So they can have 10 shariah courts if they want to within the state, but it cannot be at the federal court level.
"I know the minister made a statement that the process is almost completed but I do not know what he means by that," she said, when asked about the powers of the shariah court versus the federal court.
Human rights activist Honey Tan (pic, left) said the problem in Malaysia was that Islam was being politicised and used as a tool to win and increase the political power base.
She added that extremists who wanted to propagate a certain idea without it being questioned were using religion to achieve this.
"Whether you like it or not, we are heading towards an Islamic state.
"If you look at the Attorney-General's website , they have a shariah committee. And the committee's aim is to make all laws in Malaysia shariah compliant," she added.
Another panellist, novelist Faisal Tehrani (pic, right), said in the 1980s the then prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad introduced a policy which saw more Malay Muslim students going to Middle Eastern countries like Jordan and Saudi Arabia.
Ten years later, these graduates returned and filled up positions in universities, schools and Islamic departments, he said.
He urged right-minded people to raise their voices against extremist views.
"When the Charlie Hebdo attack happened, there were some who said that there was no absolute freedom  because they had insulted the prophet.
"But then our government had given recognition  and awarded the Tokoh Maal Hijrah to Dr Zakir Naik, who had consistently insulted the Hindu deities," he said, referring to the Muslim preacher from Mumbai who was given the international award by Malaysia in 2013.
- TMI

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