Datuk Mohd Amar Abdullah (left) lauds the suggestion public caning sessions as a step towards PAS’s goal of implementing hudud. ― Picture by Yusof Mat Isa

KUALA LUMPUR, March 9 — The PAS government in Kelantan said it will consider adopting a state lawmaker’s proposal for public caning sessions to be conducted after the Muslim Friday prayers.

According to news portal Star Online, Kelantan Deputy Mentri Besar Datuk Mohd Amar Abdullah lauded the suggestion as a step towards PAS’s goal of implementing hudud, or the Islamic penal code, in the state.

“The suggestion is a good one but needs a lot of study and I believe it is possible because Acheh (in Indonesia) has implemented such punishment,” he was quoted as saying by the news portal.

“We will also look into the mechanics of implementing it in Kelantan.”

But he added that there were other factors that must be evaluated before the state government could decide.

The suggestion was made in the state assembly by Twawang representative Datuk Hassan Mohamood, who said that the public caning for zina (adultery) would be a good way to begin implementing hudud in the state given PAS’s inability to amend federal laws that currently prevent its enforcement.

Aside from adultery, the PAS assemblyman also suggested that Muslims convicted for consuming alcohol be similarly caned publicly.

PAS is aiming to enforce the Kelantan Syariah Criminal Code II 1993, its version of hudud, but may not do so until legal barriers are removed at the federal level.

It has sought to amend the Shariah Court Act (Criminal Jurisdiction) 1965 or Act 355, which currently only allows the Shariah courts to mete out punishments limited to RM3,000 fine, five years’ jail and six strokes of caning.

But its repeated attempts to enhance the powers of the Shariah courts via private member’s bills in Parliament have never made it to debate despite being put on the agenda.

The Islamist party’s hudud ambition was among factors that prompted the break-up of the Pakatan Rakyat opposition pact, with its former allies rejecting its bid to enforce the strict Islamic law.

PAS then found support from rival Umno, which later formed a joint technical committee with the Islamist party to study the possibility of enforcing hudud.

This week, PAS Youth chief and Pasir Mas MP Nik Mohamad Abduh Nik Abdul Aziz asserted that Putrajaya has stated its willingness to spearhead the legal amendments that would remove the legal obstacles preventing the implementation of hudud.