Photo of Adam Shazrul Mohammad Yusoff courtesy of Rahman
Roslan of the International Herald Tribune.
By :
LEVEN WOON
PETALING
JAYA: The Seremban High Court today dismissed an application by four
transgender individuals to challenge the ban on Muslim men to dress and pose as
women under Section 66 of the Syariah Criminal (Negeri Sembilan) Enactment.
The
four, who had been either arrested or penalised by the Negeri Sembilan Islamic
Religious Department before, were applying for a judicial review to declare
Section 66 unconstitutional.
Justice
Siti Mariah Ahmad, in her judgment, said that it was undisputed that the four
applicants were Muslims and hence Section 66 applied to them.
According
to the applicants’ lawyer Aston Paiva, Siti Mariah had relied substantially on
the Islamic views given by a mufti.
“She
ruled that Part 2 of the Federal Constitution, which guarantees fundamental
liberties to an individual, is exempted from Section 66,” he told FMT.
“She
grants no order to cost, but she said the Islamic religious authorities must
work with (NGO) Pt Foundation to give counseling to the transsexual community.
“She
also said the Islamic authorities must act more prudently (lebih berhemah),” he
added.
Paiva
said he would be advising his clients to appeal the decision.
The
four applicants, Adam Shazrul Mohammad Yusoff, Mohammad Juzaili Mohammad
Khamis, Shukur Jani and Wan Fairol Wan Ismail, argued that Section 66 violated
the Federal Constitution on freedom of expression.
They
also claimed that the syariah laws should not apply to them as they had been diagnosed
with Gender Identity Disorder.
Activist
Thilaga Sulathireh, who helped the four to take their case to court, said she
was disappointed with the judgment.
She
said the four applicants were emotional, and not available to comment on the
judgment immediately.
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