Thousands rally in Malaysia to back Islamic penal code bill

by Dramelin 5:30 AM 0 comments

No official figures were available on how many people attended Saturday`s peaceful support rally in Kuala Lumpur, but estimates were in the tens of thousands. Prime Minister Najib Razak has thrown his weight behind the contentious bill, which seeks to incorporate parts of the Islamic penal code, or "hudud", into Malaysia`s existing Islamic legal system. Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man, deputy president of the hardline Islamist opposition Parti Islam-se Malaysia (PAS), one of its organizers, said 100,000 people were expected to attend. KUALA LUMPUR Tens of thousands of Malaysians rallied in the capital on Saturday to support the adoption of a strict Islamic penal code, a proposal religious minorities fear could infringe their rights. The PAS presented the bill in parliament last year but later withdrew it in order to fine tune the legislation.