Emilia to surrender herself on Monday
HAJAR UMIRA MD ZAKI
SHAH ALAM - Emilia Hanafi, the former wife of Naza group chairman Datuk SM Faisal SM Nasimuddin will surrender herself to the Kuala Lumpur Syariah Court on Monday, to serve her seven-day jail sentence for contempt.
The mother of three was handed down the sentence in 2019, for unilaterally rescheduling the visitation dates for her children to be with their father, not adhering to a court order regarding visitation rights.
In a press conference today, lawyer Siti Kassim said Emila was forced to surrender as the latter had no other choice.
Siti added that Emilia was not surrendering herself willingly, but “under protest”.
“She (Emila) is trapped and does not have any other choice but to surrender herself to the court.
“She is not willing to, but doing this (surrender) as a protest,” Siti said.
On Sept 4, 2019, the Syariah High Court ordered Emilia to be jailed for seven days for not abiding by the visitation rights given to the father of her three children and rescheduling those visits on her own.
Emilia was released on RM5,000 bail pending appeal.
The sentence handed down to Emilia had prompted Petaling Jaya MP Maria Chin Abdullah to issue a statement, which was published in a portal, claiming that Muslim women are still discriminated against under Malaysia's syariah legal system.
Following that, SM Faisal and his mother Datin Seri Zaleha Ismail filed a committal proceeding application against Maria, and the application was allowed by the Syariah High Court.
Maria was on April 25 sentenced to seven days in jail after being found guilty of the offence.
Syarie judge Mohamed Fouzi Mokhtar in his judgement said Maria's statement on Sept 5, 2019 had belittled, demeaned and insulted the Syariah Court.
Emilia has filed the judicial review application through Messrs. Nizam Bashir & Associates at the High Court on June 8, naming her ex-husband, SM Faisal, 43, ex-mother-in-law Zaleha, 70 and five others as respondents.
Based on the application, Emilia said she did not live or reside in the Federal Territory during the hadhanah (custody) proceedings filed at the Kuala Lumpur Syariah High Court on July 23, 2018.
She argued that the syariah court had no right to impose such a sentence as she lived in Kajang, Selangor.
