Minister moots enforcement dept to make shariah arrests

 

Religious affairs minister Na’im Mokhtar said a national shariah judiciary committee is to be formed under the national Islamic council. (Bernama pic)

PETALING JAYA: Religious affairs minister Na’im Mokhtar has suggested that a shariah enforcement department be set up in all states, empowered to act independently to conduct investigations and make arrests.

He said state Islamic religious departments currently have an enforcement section and not a department. However, he said the proposal for an enforcement department will only be seriously considered after the states establish a separate shariah prosecution department, Bernama reported.

“Currently, in most states, enforcement remains under the Islamic religious department. We want to ensure that all states establish a shariah prosecution department first, then we will discuss (establishing an enforcement department),” he was quoted as telling reporters in Putrajaya today.

“For example, in the Federal Territory Islamic religious department (Jawi), there used to be a shariah prosecution division; now the division has become the shariah prosecution department, but it is still under Jawi.

“So to ensure that this enforcement division can act independently to conduct investigations and make arrests, there is a need to make it a department,” he said.

Shariah judiciary committee to be formed

Na’im said the Conference of Rulers has consented to the establishment of a national shariah judiciary committee to study and continuously monitor issues that arise in shariah courts.

Names of committee members, who include state chief shariah judges, have been submitted to the rulers for consent.

The committee will be formed under the national council for Islamic religious affairs (MKI), which is chaired by the Sultan of Selangor, Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah.

Na’im said the judiciary committee is a permanent committee compared to an ad hoc special committee to study issues related to the competency of state legislative assemblies in enacting Islamic laws.

The ad hoc special committee was established by command of Sultan Sharafuddin. The committee, chaired by former chief justice Zaki Azmi, had convened eight meetings since December last year.

“The Selangor ruler, as chairman of MKI, had given the special committee a year to submit their report and recommendations,” he said. “The committee will not only study the cases of Iki Putra Mubarak and Nik Elin Zurina Nik Abdul Rashid, but also to gain a broader perspective on how the shariah judicial system can be strengthened,” he said. FMT