KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 8 — G25, a pro-moderation group comprising retired civil servants, has said it intends to pressure the government into repealing Shariah laws deemed to be in conflict with the Federal Constitution, especially those affecting privacy.

Its spokesman Datuk Noor Farida Ariffin was quoted today by English daily The Star as saying that the group will set up a consultative council to study these laws and subsequently recommend that they be repealed or be amended where necessary.

She cited as example the laws governing khalwat (close proxi­mity), noting that Malaysia is the only Muslim country with such laws.

“We are saying this is against Islam. You cannot knock on someone’s door at 3am and go into their bedroom and arrest them,” she told a press conference after an Islamic forum here yesterday.

Noor Farida added that non-Muslims will also be included in the council as they have been affected by the laws.

She cited as example the tussle over bodies or cases of marriages involving the unilateral conversion of children to Islam.

“A spouse converts to Islam, and then the Shariah Court dissolves the marriage.

“This is something they cannot do because the marriage was solemnised under the Law Reform (Marriage and Divorce) Act 1976 which is a civil law. And then the non-converting spouse has no remedy,” Noor Farida was quoted as saying.

Yesterday the group held a forum on Islam and democracy where the speakers at the dialogue warned that Islamic conservatism was pushing Malaysia towards an “apartheid state”.

At the end of the forum, the group issued a statement reaffirming its commitment to uphold the Federal Constitution and the Rukun Negara.