Speaking at a talk on the proposed amendments to the Syariah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act in Ipoh last Friday, Siti said the Islamist party put too much emphasis on punishment and neglected other aspects of the religion.
In a report by The Star, the lawyer, who is also an activist, said Islam was a merciful and beautiful religion.
“It’s also supposed to be easy to practise. They (PAS) are making it hard to be a Muslim,” she said.
“As religious people, PAS members should be compassionate.”
PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang, through a private member’s bill tabled last year, has been pushing to increase the maximum punishment for shariah offences to 30 years’ jail, 100 lashes of the cane and RM100,000 for fines.
Shariah court punishment is currently capped at jail terms not exceeding three years, whipping of not more than six strokes of the cane, or a maximum of RM5,000 for fines.
PAS’s move to amend the act has drawn protest from both sides of the political divide, who fear the plan would ultimately pave the way for the implementation of Islamic capital punishment, or hudud, in Kelantan.
Speaking last week, Siti said Malays should not be afraid to challenge Hadi and his shariah bill, The Star said.
At a counter-rally to a PAS-organised gathering to garner support for the bill, Siti said that Malays were the most oppressed group in Malaysia.
Speaking to a crowd of about 200 people on Feb 18, she added that the situation would only get worse if PAS’s proposed amendments went through.
“If it’s truly God’s law, I will not go against it. But I know for sure that this is not God’s law, this is Hadi’s law,” she said.
The counter-rally, organised to oppose PAS’s pro-shariah gathering on the same day, was helmed by NGO Bebas.
Speaking last Friday, the group’s spokesman Azrul Mohd Khalid said people should question Hadi’s objectives in pushing for the bill.
According to The Star report, Azrul said that PAS was committed to forming an Islamic state and a country governed only by Islamic law.
“There are already hudud enactments in Kelantan and Terengganu, which can be activated,” he was quoted as saying.
“With RUU355, they can come up with new offences under the precepts of Islam and there’s no limit to what they can do,” he added, using the Malay acronym for the bill.
“They are asking for unprecedented power to punish people for offences that they can decide on.”