Lawyer Jason Ong took issue with the presence of media at the raid, saying this led to assumptions of guilt being formed and the suspects being publicly shamed.
Ong, a former assemblyman for Kebun Bunga, Penang, said religious authorities should show compassion and sensitivity when handling such cases.
“Objectively, media presence is unnecessary as it is not right and fair to prejudge anybody unless one is found guilty,” he said, adding that as not everyone in private premises is necessarily involved in immoral activities, the authorities should rely on due process rather than assumptions.
On Dec 2, home minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said privacy did not apply in the context of enforcement action on business premises with hundreds of visitors.
He said police “must balance protecting civil rights with their enforcement duties to curb immoral activities”.
However, lawyer Gunamalar Joorindanjn said although rights to privacy has limits within the law, Article 5 of the Federal Constitution guarantees personal liberty.
She said while police have the “broad power to stop, search and arrest if there is a reasonable suspicion for them to act”, publicising suspects’ identities is not required under the law.
“Everybody is innocent until proven guilty, and that has violated their privacy,” she said.
The raid was led by the KL strike force team in collaboration with the federal territories Islamic religious department and Kuala Lumpur City Hall. They detained 208 people aged between 19 and 60, including 17 civil servants, along with 24 foreigners.
On Dec 5, a group of NGOs called for an investigation by the human rights commission Suhakam into alleged human rights violations during the raid. They accused the authorities of gross violations of privacy and dignity, as media footage showed the men in towels being filmed and publicly identified.
“The humiliating questioning of detainees, including requests for simulated sexual sounds, as documented in news reports, points to degrading and improper enforcement practices,” they said.