Negeri Sembilan govt to appeal to Federal Court on cross-dressing

The Negeri Sembilan government will soon file an appeal to the Federal Court on the Court of Appeal's decision declaring that the state's Islamic Enactment barring cross-dressing by Muslim men contravened the Federal Constitution.

Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan although the state government respected the decision, it was of the opinion that the case should be reviewed by the federal Court because Section 66 of the Negeri Sembilan Syariah Criminal Enactment 1992 should be looked from the religious point of view, and not from other aspects.

"So, we will emphasize that this law comes from religious sources. So, I will file an appeal as soon as possible and I will also get the Negeri Sembilan Islamic Religious Council (MAINS) as an interjector and I hope other state Islamic councils will also join us as interjectors in the appeal," he told reporters here today.

He said this was a very important case and if not addressed accordingly, would bring about negative implications to the status of Islam in the country.

"We will hire a good lawyer to file the appeal," he said.

Last Friday, the Court of Appeal decided that the Negeri Sembilan Syariah law which provided punishment for Muslim men dressed in women's clothes in public as flouting the Federal Constitution.

Judge Datuk Mohd Hishamudin Mohd Yunus, who led a three-judge panel, delivered the judgement after allowing an appeal by three men who worked as Mak Andam (beauticians) to set aside a decision by the High Court in Seremban, Negeri Sembilan which rejected their judicial review application to challenge the Syariah law.