FOR venting her annoyance at the way Sabah shariah court officers carried out their duties, a 36-year-old senior lab assistant is now facing contempt charges by the Sandakan shariah court.

Baizurah Masri, 36, said her two siblings have also turned their backs on her after the district shariah court decided to act against her over her Facebook post on the inefficient services rendered by officers at the Kota Kinabalu shariah court.  

“I have never felt so alone and so depressed. You see, as a government servant, if I get arrested, I could lose my job,” she told The Malaysian Insight.

“My siblings practically abandoned me when this happened because they fear the repercussions of speaking the truth.”

Baizurah’s ordeal began on May 17, when she updated her status on Facebook, posting that “the Kota Kinabalu shariah court has no system, no public announcement system, so workers have to shout out the names…from judges to general workers, no one could offer a smile.

“There’s also someone who calls out names but was attending to family or friends outside, leaving those having business with the court clueless until they finish talking.”

She ended the post by asking, “the question is, when will they improve the system?”

Baizurah had appeared at the Kota Kinabalu shariah court as a witness in a friend’s case.

Later, Baizurah said a man claiming to be a court representative started leaving “threatening” messages and harassing her on Facebook.

The harassment started when Baizurah replied to a comment on her status on May 17. She stated that a shariah court officer tried to seek payment as inducement to speed up the distribution of her late father’s estate in 2014.

“The man had used a fake account by the name of Siyarus Salikin and only after some coaxing, he told me his name was ‘Readwan Roslan’, but made no mention whether he was working for the shariah court,” she said.

“I did not use the word ‘bribe’ in the status. I just said that it required money to settle a case at the shariah court in Sandakan. But, of course, it implied bribery.

“But I did not say something that is untrue,” said Baizura, adding that she had her sister’s testimony of a person approaching her to resolve their father’s estate three years ago.

She could no longer remember the officer’s name. But Readwan insisted on having the officer’s name and explanation on the court fees incurred, failing which she was to apologise to the court and retract her statement.

“From then on, I was in fear as I had revealed too much to a stranger. Who knows what he will do with the details.

“I was not certain whether he is really a court officer. So, I refused to do what he wanted,” said Baizurah, insisting that her comment was obscure and that she had removed them eventually.

Following the incident, Baizurah said the Kota Kinabalu shariah court penalised her friend by refusing to hand over documents or having officers endorse them.

“My friend contacted me via Facebook and said the court demanded she (Baizurah) turn up in court and issue an apology for the viral post.”

Several of her friends were also contacted over the issue, said Baizurah, adding that what came next was a shock.

“Readwan” lodged a police report in Sandakan and a showcause letter was issued to Baizurah with an arrest warrant issued against her by the Sandakan shariah court.

But Baizurah said she filed a summons on May 20 and was now seeking a restraining order against Readwan, damages and cost. – August 22, 2017.