| 1995
- 1997: |
Most
states in Malaysia adopt a version of the Syariah Criminal Offences
Act / Enactment.
|
| 1997: |
Arrest
of three Muslim women by Jabatan Agama Islam Selangor (JAIS) for
participating in the Miss Malaysia Petite contest. The women were
publicly handcuffed before they were taken away for questioning.
|
| August
1997: |
Sisters
in Islam submit Memorandum on the Syariah Criminal Offences Act
and Fundamental Liberties to YAB Perdana Menteri Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir
Mohamed.
|
| 1997: |
Prime
Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamed orders the Attorney-General's Office
to suspend and review the Syariah Criminal Offences law.
|
| June
2000: |
31
Muslims, 23 of whom were women, detained by JAIS at 3 outlets serving
liquor. All charges eventually dropped after Selangor Menteri Besar
Datuk Seri Abu Hassan Omar said the arrest was a mistake and that
JAIS officers misunderstood the relevant section of the Syariah
Criminal Enactment 1995. State Government directs JAIS to develop
guidelines for enforcement operations and to require intensive training
on Syariah law, its procedures and implementation.
|
| June
2000: |
JAIS
charges a female pub singer for insulting Islam by being in premises
where alcohol is served. Charges against a male singer were quickly
dropped; charges against the female singer were later dropped.
|
| 2001: |
State
of Terengganu enacts Syariah Criminal Offences (Takzir) Enactment
No. 7, which criminalises an extensive range of acts relating to
the sanctity of Islam, decency, and public justice and security.
|
| April
2002: |
Newspaper reports that JAKIM plans to ban Muslims with no "in-depth
knowledge on Islam" from expressing themselves in public on
Islamic issues.
|
| March
2003: |
Two
schoolmates - one male and one female - caned 25 times on the grounds
of a school in Kelantan for the "crime" of talking to
each other in public. The two men who caned the students were not
teachers at the school, but were frequent visitors, and had taken
it upon themselves to punish the students for "committing vice".
|
| March
2003: |
Jabatan
Agama Islam Wilayah Persekutuan (JAWI) and the Volunteer Reserve
Corps (RELA) detain many people during raids on nightspots. After
a woman was refused the use of a toilet and told to ease herself
in the truck, her friends formed a circle around her and she covered
herself with a shawl while she eased herself. One officer pushed
her friends aside, pulled away the shawl and photographed her. Three
months after the event, Religious Enforcement Officers questioned
the woman for three and a half hours; her lawyer was not allowed
to be present during this interrogation. She was charged with abetting
another to commit the offence of drinking and selling alcohol and
committing vice (maksiat).
|
| May
2003: |
College
student receives a summons from the council "for talking with
a classmate" at the stairway of Ipoh's Tun Razak Library. The
summons was later cancelled on technical grounds as the "talking"
took place in the library and not at a recreational park. Three
weeks later, student booked for "indecent behaviour" for
talking and holding hands with his girlfriend at the Ipoh Padang.
The RM100 fine was reduced to RM30 after an appeal to city mayor
Datuk Sirajuddin Salleh.
|
| June
2003: |
Ipoh
City Council indefinitely suspends its park bylaws to enable studies
to be undertaken in view of enforcement problems that have arisen.
Urban and Local Government Committee chairman Datuk Chang Ko Youn
said that enforcement at parks would only resume after the Perak
Government issued clear and specific guideline on the dos and don'ts
at public parks in Perak.
|
| August
2003: |
Young
Chinese couple charged with indecent behaviour under park bylaws
(Federal Territory) 1981 for holding hands at the KLCC park. In
February 2005, the trial was postponed to 23 June 2005.
|
| August
2003: |
Kota
Baru Municipal Council announces it will not only fine couples holding
hands in its parks, but also people who "dress indecently".
Those found liable could be fined a maximum RM250. The council's
Islamic Development Department director said 59 couples had been
fined a total of RM2,700 by the council between January and June
in the more than 20 parks under the council. "Most of them
were sitting close to a person of the opposite sex in the parks,
but there were also cases where visitors were fined for dressing
indecently."
|
| January
2005: |
Arrest,
detention and humiliation of 100 Muslim youth by JAWI for being
at KL nightclub. After several hours of verbal abuse and humiliation
in lockup, a few of the youth were charged with "indecent behaviour";
others were released without charge. Most of the charges and summons
to undergo counselling were later dropped because they were based
on nonexistent provisions in the Syariah Criminal Offences Act.
|
| January
2005: |
Cabinet
met on 26 January and expressed concern over the raid and that Malaysia
had no need for morality police. Culture Arts and Heritage Minister
Dr Rais Yatim said that the Cabinet felt that the country's needs
would be best served if the police looked after crime and matters
of morality were handled by the family.
|
| February
2005: |
Malacca
begins using Pasukan Gerak Khas 4B - "snoop squads" -
to help religious authorities arrest couples for khalwat. A news
report stated that the moral squads will spy initially on Muslim
youth and eventually on young people of all religions.
|
| March
2005: |
HRH
Sultan of Selangor Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah stated in a speech,
"Beta khuatir jika golongan muda dan remaja Islam terlalu terhimpit
dan tersekat, akan menjadikan mereka bosan dan tidak akan menerima
ajaran Islam yang mereka fikirkan terlalu sempit dan akan membuat
para remaja mengambil tindakan yang membolehkan mereka menjadi murtad.
Dari kaca mata mereka yang bukan beragama Islam pula akan melihat
agama Islam ini terlalu susah untuk dianuti dan akan memandang rendah
terhadap agama Islam. Golongan muda boleh diperbetulkan dengan cara
yang lebih berhemah seperti memberi nasihat, motivasi dan mengadakan
seminar, tetapi bukannya dengan kekerasan sehingga memalukan serta
menjatuhkan air muka dan maruah seseorang itu".
|
| March
2005: |
The
PAS-led Government in Kelantan announces that its dress code for
Muslim women will be extended, minus the tudung, to non-Muslim women.
The dress code will initially be only a guideline designed to encourage
non-Muslim women to dress appropriately. In contrast, Muslim women
can be fined: in the first eight months of 2004, a total of of 160
women were fined between RM10 and RM50 by the Kota Baru Municipal
Council (MPKB) for not wearing headscarves at their workplaces.
|
| March
2005: |
Arrest
of non-Muslim transgender journalist in the garden of a friend's
house by Taiping Religious Department officers. |
