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International News - Oct 02, 2000
by Rex Wockner
One hundred eleven Malaysian men were arrested by the Islamic Affairs Department's morality police for "attempting to commit homosexual acts" last year in Kuala Lumpur, the capital city.
"Homosexuality is forbidden in Islam," Abdul Kadir Che Kob, the department's head of education and research, told TIME Asia. "It is a crime worse than murder. They are shameless people. ... How can men have sex with men? God did not make them this way. This is all Western influence."
Fifty morality officers work for the department. They are permitted to arrest only Muslims and spring into action only after receiving a complaint.
"Usually people give us precise information like where these men are," Abdul Kadir said. "We then go to the place, say, a hotel room. We knock and force them to open the door, but they are usually fully clothed by then. We still charge them for attempting to commit homosexual acts.
"We charge them in court [and] put them through what we call Islamic counseling sessions," he said. "They recite the Koran everyday and we will tell them they have committed a grave sin."
TIME did not say if any other punishment is meted out.
Source : Obtained from gaywired.com
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