Kota Bharu council’s fine on woman ‘unlawful, misguided’

 

A Bersatu leader has slammed Kota Bharu City Council’s move to fine a non-Muslim female business owner over her clothing, saying it’s “misguided and unlawful”.

The party’s legal and constitution bureau deputy chairperson Sasha Lyna Abdul Latif, said the council’s decision to incur a fine on the woman for committing an offence under 34(2)(b) Business and Industrial Trade By-Laws 2019 was void.

Sasha said this was because it exceeded the powers granted to the council under Section 102 of the Local Government Act 1976 to make by-laws.

“Section 102 only permits the council to make by-laws about ‘health, safety and well-being’.

“No power is granted to regulate clothing or morality,” she said in a statement today.

While syariah enactments could regulate the clothing of Muslims, she said the local authorities do not have the power to do so, reiterating that the summons issued to the non-Muslim female shop owner was void and unlawful.

“The best course for the council would be to cancel the summons and suspend the operation of Section 34(2)(b) pending review by the state authorities or exco."

She also asserted that the standard imposed on Muslim women to cover their “aurat” cannot be imposed on non-Muslims.

“The word ‘sopan’ (decent) in Section 34(2)(b) is vague and open to various interpretations.

“It is unfair to subject the woman to a fine when the definition of the offence is unclear.”

In addition, she said that the penalty issued by the council was “unnecessary” and was “liable to create mistrust among Malaysians of all races and religion”.

“In any event, whether her clothes were indecent or not is subjective.

"To establish that the clothes were 'indecent' would indeed require some degree of indecency which is more than just being clad in a T-shirt and shorts, such as, for example, partial nudity. This is clearly not the case here.

"It can also be perceived to be unjust as it appears to be targeting women exclusively.”

This comes after the non-Muslim female shop owner took to Facebook to complain that she was fined for wearing shorts at her premises on June 25, prompting netizens to lament that the authorities were imposing religious law on non-Muslims.

The council has defended its decision, with council mayor Rosnazli Amin saying the clothes worn by the woman in the photograph where she was seen posing with the fine were not what she wore when she was visited by enforcement personnel.

According to Sin Chew Daily, Rosnazli then shared a photograph of the enforcement personnel visiting the woman's clothing boutique, where the latter was clad in an oversized pink t-shirt that covered her shorts. - Mkini