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Tuesday, July 8, 2014

Christian woman convicted of khalwat applies to have charge withdrawn

Halimah was found guilty of khalwat in February 2012, a conviction which the Shariah High Court upheld in September 2012. – The Malaysian Insider pic, July 8, 2014.Halimah was found guilty of khalwat in February 2012, a conviction which the Shariah High Court upheld in September 2012. – The Malaysian Insider pic, July 8, 2014.
More than two years after she was controversially convicted of "khalwat" (close proximity) by the Shariah Court in Penang, an Indonesian Christian woman's long wait to be absolved and freed may soon come to an end.
Her lawyer Wan Faridulhadi Mohd Yusoff said he would submit a representation to the Shariah chief prosecutor's office to have the charge against Halimah, 42, withdrawn as Halimah is not a Muslim and cannot be tried in the Shariah Court.
The move comes in the wake of the Shariah Court of Appeal’s ruling to set aside the decision by both the lower and high courts and to order a re-trial.
The lower court had found Halimah guilty of khalwat in February 2012 while the Shariah High Court upheld the conviction in September 2012.
It is understood that the re-trial will allow Halimah to plead not guilty and assert that she is a non-Muslim and therefore not subject to the jurisdiction of the Shariah courts.
Halimah, who is illiterate, had earlier this year recalled her ordeal when first put on trial, telling reporters that she did not understand the charge read out to her.
She said she was fearful and was also not represented.
Halimah appeared nervous when she emerged from the courtroom and would not respond to questions from reporters except to say that she looks forward to being with her family in her native country.
The mother of four from the Bandung district in Java has been working in Penang as a reflexologist and post-natal masseuse at the Mutiara Traditional Herbal Centre in George Town.
Her ordeal began on December 8, 2011, when she was nabbed by six Penang Islamic Religious Affairs Department (Jaipp) officers at her workplace.
She was charged in February 2012 and convicted after "unknowingly" pleading guilty under Section 27(b) of the Criminal Offences of Penang Enactment 1996 for khalwat.
In March this year, Halimah's case came up in the Shariah Court of Appeal where Wan Faridulhadi argued that the charge was "void ab initio" (not valid from the beginning) as she is not a Muslim.
- TMI

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