PAKATAN Harapan Sarawak has urged the state’s Islamic authorities to develop clear guidelines and requirements for those wanting to leave Islam and to facilitate letters of release.

The state government should amend relevant state religious laws on requirements to leave the religion following the Federal Court’s decision last week that the Sarawak shariah court has the power to hear apostasy cases, PH leaders said.

“There has been no procedure and each person has been told different things, leading to frustration and helplessness,” said Amanah Sarawak chairman Fidzuan Zaidi with other leaders at a press conference at PKR headquarters in Kuching today.

Pakatan Sarawak chairman Chong Chieng Jen and PKR Sarawak chairman Baru Bian were also present.

Baru was the legal counsel for four people – three converts; Salina Jau Abdullah, Jenny Peter and Tiong Choo Ting, and of ethnic Malay, Muslim-born Syarifah Nooraffyzza Wan Hosen – all of whom had appealed to the Federal Court for the civil high court to hear their apostasy cases.

The Federal Court unanimously dismissed their appeals when it ruled the Sarawak Shariah Court has jurisdiction to hear their apostasy applications on grounds there were provisions in the Majlis Islam Sarawak (Sarawak Islamic Council) Ordinance 2001 that could be used to hear apostasy cases.

The apex court’s decision was the final say over views there was no provision in a separate law, the Sarawak Shariah Court Ordinance 2001, that allowed the shariah court to hear such cases.

In Sarawak, cases of those who want to leave Islam are mainly converts who embraced the religion to facilitate their marriage to Muslim partners. 

The state has a majority population of Christians, although nationally, Christianity is a minority religion at under 10%.

Fidzuan said Pakatan wanted procedures to require those wanting to leave Islam to have documents as evidence they were no longer practising Muslims and intended to leave the faith.

There must also be clear guidelines for lawyers who will be allowed to appear in the shariah court as “we can foresee many shariah lawyers will be reluctant to take on apostasy cases for fear of being branded as ‘mermurtadkan Melayu’ (proselyting the Malays)”.

He said the authorities must consider allowing non-Muslim lawyers to appear in the shariah court.

Fidzuan said Baru, who represented the four applicants, had received insults from some Muslims and a death threat through social media.

“Baru was merely helping the four persons in his capacity as an advocate to exercise their rights to choose their religion.

“From the facts of the cases, it is clear he had nothing to do with their decisions to leave the Islamic faith and those who accuse him of having a ‘Christian agenda’ are making up lies for their own purposes,” Fidzuan said.

“We condemn those who are trying to politicise Baru’s role in these cases by accusing Pakatan Harapan of not respecting the Islamic religion.

“Our manifesto clearly affirms our position on Islam.”

The four applicants seeking to leave Islam had been told to undergo counselling after making known their intension to apostatise but lawyer Simon Siah said the counselling requirements varied from person to person.

“Some of them were required to go for up to 12 sessions over a period of three years, some of them were required to go to only one session.

“Then questionable requirements were again imposed on them such as counselling in Sibu was insufficient and only counselling sessions at the Kuching headquarters was acceptable,” said Siah, who is also Sarawak PKR Youth deputy chief.

Even after counselling, Siah said the National Registration Department (NRD) did not recognise converts’ wish to leave Islam and required them to get a letter of release from the shariah court.

Given the legal dispute over whether the shariah court had or did not have the power to hear apostasy cases, the applicants decided to go to the Federal Court after facing “a dead end”. – March 2, 2018.