The Muslim man himself denies having had sex with another man, his lawyer tells Reuters news agency. He is challenging his conviction in the Islamic court. Malaysia has two legal systems: a civil system and Sharia law. In both systems, homosexuality is illegal.

The man now wants to challenge that. According to his lawyer, the Islamic state court has no power to convict him for sex with a man, as civil law already prohibits this. "If we win, all accusations in the Sharia court will have to be dropped," said his lawyer.

Should the man be successful, this could have consequences for many convictions of homosexuals in Malaysia. LGBT + organizations report that Sharia laws are increasingly being used against homosexuals in the country.

The man was arrested in November, along with a number of other gay men. Some of them have already been punished with canes.