Comments on: Anwar Ibrahim & Syariah Court http://www.stevensim.org/2008/07/anwar-ibrahim-syariah-court/ Words are more treacherous and powerful than we think - Jean-Paul Sartre Wed, 04 Aug 2010 00:54:30 +0800 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8 hourly 1 By: splim http://www.stevensim.org/2008/07/anwar-ibrahim-syariah-court/comment-page-1/#comment-286 splim Sat, 12 Jul 2008 14:49:39 +0000 http://www.stevensim.org/?p=282#comment-286 If Muslims want to go to the Syariah Court to get justice, they should be allowed to do so. But on criminal matters, the jurisdiction of our civil courts should prevail. For example in this case, Anwar may be exonerated by the Syariah court but he can still be charged and convicted under the Penal Code if there is enough evidence. To hold otherwise will be another step towards the establishment of an Islamic state in Malaysia. Our current problem is our civil courts have abdicated their duty to do justice whenever an Islamic issues cropped up e.g. the decisions of those 'body snatching' cases. They just washed their hands citing lack of jurisdiction. Lastly, I don't think Anwar's action in bringing this matter to the Syariah court can be construed as his distrust of the civil courts (though I wouldn't blame him if he does based on his previous experiences). He has filed a defamation suit against Saiful in the civil court. I also think in the event he is charged for sodomy under the Penal Code, he wouldn't ask his lawyer to raise a preliminary objection that he is a Muslim and therefore only the Syariah court would have jurisdiction. If Muslims want to go to the Syariah Court to get justice, they should be allowed to do so. But on criminal matters, the jurisdiction of our civil courts should prevail. For example in this case, Anwar may be exonerated by the Syariah court but he can still be charged and convicted under the Penal Code if there is enough evidence. To hold otherwise will be another step towards the establishment of an Islamic state in Malaysia.

Our current problem is our civil courts have abdicated their duty to do justice whenever an Islamic issues cropped up e.g. the decisions of those ‘body snatching’ cases. They just washed their hands citing lack of jurisdiction.

Lastly, I don’t think Anwar’s action in bringing this matter to the Syariah court can be construed as his distrust of the civil courts (though I wouldn’t blame him if he does based on his previous experiences). He has filed a defamation suit against Saiful in the civil court. I also think in the event he is charged for sodomy under the Penal Code, he wouldn’t ask his lawyer to raise a preliminary objection that he is a Muslim and therefore only the Syariah court would have jurisdiction.

]]>