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DAP: Extend civil court jurisdiction to apostasy matters

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Padungan Assemblyman Wong King Wei says the amendment for civil courts to mediate divorce and child custody cases is not “good enough”.

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KUCHING: The proposal for civil court jurisdiction over divorces and child custody cases, involving Muslim converts, is welcome, but still falls short of constitutionally guaranteed civil liberties, according to one DAP lawmaker

Padungan Assemblyman Wong King Wei, in praising Prime Minister Najib Razak’s announcement that civil courts will have precedence in interfaith divorces, said such jurisdiction should also be extended to cover cases of Muslims who wish to renounce their faith.

“I welcome this announcement, which made the necessary amendments to the Law Reform (Marriage and Divorce) Act 1976,” Wong said, referring to proposals that the bill be amended when Parliament reconvenes in October.

“However, this sole amendment is not good enough. It has to be extended to cover matters of apostasy,” Wong said.

Wong said in Sarawak, there were cases of citizens who were originally non-Muslims who had converted to Islam due to marriage and had left the religion after divorce or the death of their spouse.

In March, the Kuching High Court had allowed Rooney Rebit, a Bidayuh, who was converted to Islam as a child, to renounce Islam.

The High Court ordered the NRD to change Rooney’s name to his original name and his religion from Islam to Christianity in his identity card and its records.

The department filed an appeal against the decision on April 22, but later withdrew the appeal after Prime Minister Najib Razak intervened in the matter.

Last week, three citizens who sought to leave Islam had their appeal dismissed by the Court of Appeal in Kuching, Sarawak.

The trio had sought to compel the Sarawak Islamic Department and council to issue letters of release so that they could leave Islam, and also compel the NRD to change the Muslim names on their official documents to their original names.

However, the Court of Appeal ruled that the question of whether they could leave Islam should be brought to the Shariah Court.

The appellants in all four cases were represented by Sarawak PKR leader Baru Bian.

“In the Rooney case, on May 2, a few days before the polls, Chief Minister Adenan (Satem) announced he had communicated with the prime minister to withdraw the appeal. But that was the only case where the exception was made,” Wong said.

“Adenan has to explain the stand of the state government regarding this matter.”

In Sarawak, the Syariah Court Ordinance 2001 does not make any mention on the issue of jurisdiction over apostasy, hence the High Court should have exercised its jurisdiction to allow the trio’s applications, Wong said.

Five states in Malaysia have laws that prohibit apostasy or attempted apostasy. They are Perak, Malacca, Pahang, Kelantan and Sabah. In the latter two states, apostates can be detained in Islamic rehabilitation centres for up to 36 months.

 

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