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Malaysia religious police raid LGBT Halloween party

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Deutsche Welle

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="A man wearing a costume walks at a shopping mall during Halloween carnival in Kuala Lumpur on October 27, 2018. Mohd Rasfan / AFP" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2022/overseas/10/31/malaysia-party.jpg"/><figcaption>A man wearing a costume walks at a shopping mall during Halloween carnival in Kuala Lumpur on October 27, 2018. <em>Mohd Rasfan / AFP</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>Malaysia&#x27;s Islamic religious police raided an LGBT Halloween party on Saturday night, arresting people in the process for cross-dressing and allegedly encouraging vice.</p><p>Activist Numan Afifi was among those arrested at the event in Kuala Lumpur. He told the AFP news agency that the raid was &quot;traumatizing and harrowing.&quot;</p><p>&quot;About 40 religious officers backed by the police came into the venue with some 1,000 participants, and they stopped the music and dance,&quot; he said.</p><p>Assistant police commissioner Noor Dellhan Yahaya has since vowed to &quot;step up operations and inspections on clubs,&quot; The Star newspaper quoted him as saying.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=1632472" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div><div><strong>Muslims detained</strong></div><p>Numan said authorities divided party-goers into two groups — Muslims and followers of other faiths. Authorities checked 53 men and nine women at the Halloween party, The Star reported.</p><p>Authorities then took 20 Muslims from the group to the Federal Territories Islamic Religious Department. All of them were released after a few hours but are required to return next week for further questioning.</p><p>&quot;Some were alleged to have committed offences under cross-dressing while others, including me, for encouraging vice,&quot; Numan said.</p><p>Malaysia has a dual-track legal system with civil courts as well as Islamic Sharia courts designed specifically for Muslim Malays, who make up 60% of the country&#x27;s population. These religious laws do not apply to the sizeable Chinese and Indian communities, nor do they apply to most foreigners.</p><div><strong>Calls for change</strong></div><p>This latest incident of police raiding an LGBT+ party sparked outcry in the southeast Asian country, which counts Thailand and Singapore among its neighbors.</p><p>Opposition politician Carles Santiago said the raid was a case of &quot;harassment against a marginalized community.&quot;</p><p>&quot;When will we learn to respect and accept people for who they are?&quot; he tweeted.</p><p>Others have called for Malaysia to drop its laws that target queer people.</p><p>&quot;These people are not criminals,&quot; human rights lawyer Siti Kassim told AFP. &quot;The oppression and discrimination against LGBT people must end immediately.&quot;</p><div><em>AFP material contributed to this report.</em></div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/7kNX0NDa67I?enablejsapi=1" width="560"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div>

Malaysia's Islamic religious police raided an LGBT Halloween party on Saturday night, arresting people in the process for cross-dressing.