'Stiffer penalties for sex offenders'

'Stiffer penalties for sex offenders'

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP): Moslems in Malaysia's southern Johore
state caught committing adultery or cohabitation will face public
caning under a new bill to be tabled later this year, news
reports said.

Moslem jurists were finalizing the draft of the proposed law,
the chief judge of the Johore State Religious (Syariah) Court,
Hasbullah Abdul Razak said yesterday.

However, he would not reveal details of the harsher penalties
for Moslems caught committing such offenses.

A local Malay daily, Utusan Malaysia, had reported that those
found guilty of committing adultery and cohabitation in Johore
would be punished with six strokes of the cane.

These offenders would also be liable to a fine of 3,000
ringgit (US$1,200) and a jail term of three years under the
proposed Syariah Criminal Law.