KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 12 — The Malay-Muslims who unsuccessfully tried to sue PAS to stop the Islamist party from tabling hudud Bills in Parliament said their attempt was worth it, despite allegedly receiving death and rape threats.

One of the litigants—lawyer Mansoor Saat—said he is not against Islam and stressed that it is arguable whether or not the version of the Islamic penal code that PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang is trying to enforce is Islamic.

“We lost the battle, but it’s worth it,” Mansoor told Malay Mail Online yesterday.

“This is not God’s law; this is PAS’ law,” he added. “What’s important is the message is sent to Hadi that not every Malay-Muslim supports him”.

Mansoor said when he had criticised hudud in a lawyers’ group, a fellow lawyer had messaged him saying that “he’s prepared to shed blood over it”.

According to Mansoor, history has shown that it is the contrary views of the minority that lift civilisation to the next level.

“As such, I’m not worried or afraid of death threats etc, as I know I’m doing the right thing,” he said.

The High Court here struck out Monday a lawsuit filed by four Malaysians—Mansoor, Azira Aziz, Hasbeemasputra Abu Bakar and Hazwany Jamaluddin—who had sought to block Hadi from tabling any Private Member’s Bill in Parliament related to hudud.

Hadi had submitted a Private Member’s Bill earlier this year to amend the Shariah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act 1965 (Act 355) in order to increase the powers of the Shariah courts, so that harsher hudud penalties can be enforced. But the Marang MP was unable to have it debated in Parliament during the last two sittings, ostensibly due to a lack of time.     

To implement hudud in Kelantan that imposes punishments like the amputation of limbs for theft, PAS is seeking to amend Act 355 that currently limits punishments by the Shariah courts to RM3,000 fines, five years’ jail and six strokes of caning.

Azira Aziz said the hudud lawsuit was never about winning, but about raising awareness. — Picture courtesy of Azira Aziz

Rape threats

Azira, who is an activist, shrugged off the alleged death and rape threats she received over the hudud lawsuit, saying there was even a threat of assault against her mother. She said she has lodged a police report.

“These people don’t know how to rebut intelligently, so what they do is attempt to negate you as a human being. And it applies to all Muslim women who speak out on any issue or are in the public eye,” Azira told Malay Mail Online.

“Aurat, rape threats, assaults etc is evidence that these people are mentally incapable of thinking on the merits of any issue on its own. I got the same from the activism work I’ve done [in] speaking up on women’s rights under Islam or even Bersih,” the young woman added.

Azira also said the hudud lawsuit was never about winning, but about raising awareness.

“People are now aware that strategic litigation is one of the methods you can use when a politician tables a law you disagree with, to get the point across that it does not reflect your own core values.

“The subsequent media attention was an added value because now people are asking why are these four people saying that this law is bad law. Sue your politician if he makes what is in your opinion a bad law,” she said.

The young woman also wrote on her Facebook page: “Was the whole thing worth it? Yes. Many time(s) yes”.

Activist Hasbeemasputra Abu Bakar said the hudud lawsuit had opened up room for debate. — Picture courtesy of Hasbeemasputra Abu Bakar

Called ‘munafiq’

Hasbeemasputra, another activist, alleged that he received two death threats on Facebook while his pictures were disseminated on mobile messaging app WhatsApp. He also said he was called “munafiq”, which means “hypocrite”.

“It’s OK. I knew the risks,” he told Malay Mail Online.

He said the hudud lawsuit had opened up room for debate, although the debate was not centred around his pet cause—direct democracy.

“A lot of it was lost in religious fervour,” said Hasbeemasputra. “It was worth it though”.

Malay Mail Online was unable to reach Hazwany for comment.

Farez Jinnah, who represented the four, said his clients would not be appealing the High Court decision and has yet to receive instructions on whether to refile the case.