IGP: We need fatwa to curb deviants

New Straits Times

"We need to act fast against deviants to ensure their activities are nipped in the bud. But we can't take action until the fatwa council issues the decree," Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Musa Hassan said.

He said the police and Islamic religious officials needed to work on a standard operating procedure (SOP) to ensure the effective enforcement of syariah laws.

An SOP agreed upon by both parties would ensure that action taken by police in Syariah enforcement was not disputed, he added.

"I hope all state police chiefs and Islamic Religious Department officials can sit together as soon as possible on this matter (drawing up of SOP)," he said during his keynote address at the Syariah Law Enforcement National Convention here yesterday.

Attended by some 200 syariah court judges and state Islamic religious department officials from all over Malaysia, the convention was officiated by Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman.

The IGP said the SOP would ensure that police did not go beyond the powers vested in them.

He also said the police were unable to enforce syariah law on their own.