KUALA LUMPUR: Tens of thousands of Malaysian Muslims rallied in the capital on Saturday to support the adoption of stricter sharia law, a proposal that religious minorities fear could infringe their rights.
Prime Minister Najib Razak has thrown his weight behind a contentious bill that seeks to incorporate parts of the Islamic penal code, or "hudud", into Malaysia's existing Islamic legal system.
Najib, who is currently embroiled in a corruption scandal, is hoping to burnish his Islamic credentials in order to boost his chances in national elections that must be held by August 2018.
The bill proposed by Abdul Hadi Awang, president of the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS), seeks to increase punishment caps in the Syariah Court to a maximum of 30 years’ imprisonment, a fine of 100,000 ringgit (79,000 baht) and 100 lashes of the cane. It is scheduled to be debated in parliament next month.
The punishments are far stricter than those now meted out in the civil court system.
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