Ex-senator disappointed with Bar Council’s last-minute criticism of public caning

FMT:

Ex-senator disappointed

with Bar Council’s last-

minute criticism of public

caning

FMT Reporters

-27 Dec 2024, 12:31 PM

P Waythamoorthy says the Bar has not just allowed potentially unlawful practices to persist, but also harmful ones, without scrutiny.

6

Shares

Total Views: 1,782

P Waythamoorthy said the Bar Council should have taken proactive steps to challenge the implementation of public caning in the Federal Court.

PETALING JAYA: 

A former senator has hit out at the Bar Council over its last-minute criticism of the public whipping of a man, convicted for khalwat, scheduled to take place later today.

P Waythamoorthy said the Bar Council’s inaction and silence until the “eleventh hour” was disappointing.

He said the council should have taken proactive steps to challenge the implementation of public caning in the Federal Court.

“By its inaction, the Bar has not just allowed potentially unlawful practices to persist, but also harmful ones, without scrutiny,” he said in a statement.

“It’s time the public gets immediate and clear answers on whether public caning is consistent with the limits imposed by Act 355 and broader constitutional principles, such as protecting human dignity and personal liberty,” he said, referring to the Syariah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act 1965.

Yesterday, Bar Council president Ezri Abdul Wahab called for a stop to public caning and corporal punishment while referring to the impending public caning case at Terengganu.

In a statement, Ezri said public caning violated Article 5 of the Federal Constitution which protects “the right to life and liberty” and exceeds the legal limit of Act 355.

He also said that while Act 355 allowed for whipping, it did not envisage the punishment being carried out publicly.

Affendi Awang, 42, will become the first individual in Terengganu to be publicly whipped. He will be given six strokes of the rotan over his conviction by the shariah court for close proximity.

Despite criticisms from several quarters, the state government said yesterday it will proceed with the punishment to demonstrate its commitment to strengthening shariah laws.

The move has drawn criticism from various groups, including the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam), which accused the Terengganu shariah court of overstepping its jurisdiction.

Similarly, G25, a group of prominent retired civil servants, has warned that public caning contravenes both federal and shariah laws.

Last night, a criminal lawyer defended the Terengganu shariah court’s order for public whipping, saying the state’s shariah enactment does not specify where it could be carried out.

Shamsher Singh Thind said Section 230(2) of the Syariah Criminal Procedure (Terengganu) Enactment 2001 stipulates that in the event where any matter is not expressly provided by this enactment, the court shall apply Islamic law.