Kelantan considers using guillotine to punish criminals

KUALA LUMPUR — Kelantan is mulling over the use of a smaller form of the guillotine — similar to the one used in beheadings during the French Revolution in the 18th century — to punish criminals, as the opposition Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS) pushes to enforce its implementation of hudud, or Islamic criminal law, in the state.

The Star newspaper reported yesterday that the state’s hudud law technical committee was considering a “mini version” of the apparatus, as it believes the method is a suitable way of amputating the limbs of those convicted of stealing.

The PAS is pushing to implement hudud in Kelantan, which the Islamic party has controlled since 1990, although it faces deep opposition to the move from its partners in the three-party opposition Pakatan Rakyat (PR) alliance, which also includes the Democratic Action Party (DAP) and Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR).

The state’s Deputy Chief Minister Mohd Amar Abdullah told The Star he would recommend the use of the smaller guillotine as it would not require a surgeon to operate.

The committee’s move to consider the apparatus and do away with the services of surgeons comes after having drawn fire in recent months from Malaysia’s medical fraternity, which is averse to the proposal of amputating limbs as it is contrary to the Hippocratic Oath.

“The surgeon must first agree to carry out the procedure, but he is likely to face the wrath of the Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) for violating the Hippocratic Oath,” Mr MohdAmar, who is also the committee’s chairman, was quoted as saying in the paper.

The Hippocratic Oath states, among others, that doctors must never do harm to anyone and must do what is best for their patients.

In April, the MMA warned that it would seek to disqualify surgeons who perform unethical amputations on criminals convicted under hudud, reminding doctors that they are bound by professional ethics to do no harm.

Mr Mohd Amar said with the smaller guillotine, punishment could be meted out effectively as the method was fast. He added that it would require only one individual to pull the lever, two to hold down the convict, the presence of the judge who ordered the sentence and a doctor to ensure the offender “does not drastically suffer from the punishment”.

“I will make extensive studies on the method used during the French Revolution in the 18th century when guillotines were used to sever the heads of those sentenced to death,” said Mr Mohd Amar, adding that he would present his proposal to the hudud committee for feedback.

In Islamic jurisprudence, hudud covers crimes such as theft, robbery, adultery, rape and sodomy. Punishment for the crimes is severe, including amputation and flogging.

In 1993, the PAS state government passed the Kelantan Syariah Criminal Code Enactment II, but the strict Islamic penal code has not been enforced because of conflicts with the Federal Constitution.

The technical committee was formed after the state government announced in April that it was gearing up to present two Bills to Parliament that it hoped would remove all obstacles to its implementation of the hudud law in Kelantan by next year.

The first Bill was to provide wider powers to Syariah judges to hear and mete out sentences under the SyariahPenal Code, while the second was to allow federal agencies, such as the prisons department, to be used by Kelantan to enforce hudud.

Despite facing resistance from its PR partners, the PAS has said it would seek votes from Members of Parliament from the ruling Barisan Nasionalcoalition’s United Malays National Organisation to get the Bills approved.

However, Prime Minister Najib Razak has previously said the time is not yet right for Malaysia to have hudud. Agencies