After Nur Fitri case, Putrajaya drafting changes to existing laws on child pornography

KUALA LUMPUR, May 13 ― Putrajaya is currently drafting amendments to existing laws against pornography, specifically on obscene materials involving children following news on Nur Fitri Azmeer Nordin’s conviction in the UK, de facto law minister Nancy Shukri has said.

She said various government agencies have already started reviewing relevant laws dealing with distribution and possession of pornographic materials, especially those on child pornography.

“The government is actually drafting amendment to the relevant law. With regard to pedophilia, it is time for us to look into the existing laws like the Penal Code and the Child Act to make the necessary amendments where needed.

“Various government agencies are seriously looking into other related laws involving obscene materials including pornography, especially those involving young persons and children,” Nancy said in a text message to Malay Mail Online.

The Batang Sadong MP did not say when those amendments will be tabled.

According to lawyers, the three laws available to deal with pornography-related offences include Section 31 of the Child Act 2001, where sexual abuse of children is punishable by a maximum RM20,000 fine or a maximum 10-year jail term or more among others.

Nancy also said there was no need for a special law against pornography in general as the country has sufficient laws in place ― in response to a women’s group call for one last weekend.

“At the moment we have the existing law under the Penal Code to deal with such cases and there is no need to have a stand alone law to deal with pornography,” she said.

In an anti-pornography campaign launched on Sunday, the women wing of the Pertubuhan Ikram Malaysia (Ikram) urged Putrajaya to enact a special law to restrict pornography in Malaysia, in which they also planned to hand a memorandum on it soon.

Nur Fitri, who was studying on a scholarship under Majlis Amanah Rakyat (MARA) at Imperial College London, was sentenced to 10 months’ jail for possessing over 30,000 videos and photographs of child pornography when the police raided his home in London last November.

MARA had immediately rescinded Nur Fitri’s scholarship when the maths student was sentenced on April 30 and that the latter was required to pay back his study loan.