Malaysia urged to renounce diabolical plan to further persecute innocent LGBT+ people

Malaysia’s government has been urged to renounce a cabinet minister’s proposal to increase criminal penalties against LGBT+ people.

The Human Rights Watch (HRW) said the attempt to strengthen criminal penalties against LGBT+ Malaysians is the latest in a series of moves to cement an anti-LGBT+ and anti-human rights stance under the prime minister’s government.

Deputy minister for religious affairs Ahmad Marzuk Shaary has proposed amendments to the Syariah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act (Act 355) which would allow state courts to enact harsher sentences for same-sex conduct than the current maximum sentence permitted under federal law.

Act 355 limits the sentences that can be imposed by Sharia courts. The current sentence under the act includes three-year imprisonment, a fine of RM5,000 (£905) and six strokes with a cane.

However, Marzuk said this punishment was “not giving much effect on the group of people”. He said: “All state religious agencies and enforcers have been instructed to take action against those [LGBT+ people] who do not behave accordingly.”

Neela Ghoshal, associate LGBT+ rights director for the HRW, said Malaysia’s state and federal statutes that criminalise LGBT+ people are “already out of bounds” with regard to international law. She added the country’s government “seems to be sinking even deeper in its disregard for human rights”.

Source: PinkNews