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Tuesday 29 December 2009

Kelantan Royalty in news again

The Sun
by Maria J.Dass and Alyaa Alhajri

PETALING JAYA (Dec 28, 2009) : The Kelantan royalty is in the news again. A woman claiming to be the second wife of the Sultan of Kelantan Sultan Ismail Petra today alleged that she was prevented from visiting her husband who has been warded at the Mount Elizabeth Hospital in Singapore since May 14.

In a signed statement faxed to the Press, Elia Suhana Ahmad said she and the Sultan were married on Dec 23, 2007 in the presence of family and palace officials, but things were kept under wraps for personal reasons.

Her wedding photograph, e-nikah card and documents from the religious department were e-mailed to theSun to prove their union.

Our call to a handphone number given in the statement was picked up by a man who claimed to be her spokesman but who refused to reveal his name. He said Elia Suhana was overseas and would only be back in "one or two days".

Some photographers went to the address given in the statement but failed to meet her.

Her statement was issued in response to a Dec 21 report in the Malay Mail online titled “Police Ruckus in Royal Ward" which said palace police had helped her gain access to the Sultan.

Elia Suhana claimed that the Sultan’s consort, the Raja Perempuan Kelantan Tengku Anis Tengku Abdul Hamid’s body guards had prevented her from visiting the Sultan.

The news report said royal guards sneaked "two unknown women" into the royal suite of the recovering Ruler at the hospital in the wee hours of the morning of Oct 8.

It also stated that some 20 royal guards, who are also police personnel, besieged the ward and allegedly insulted Tengku Anis.

Explaining what happened, Elia Suhana said: “My personal assistant and I went to visit the Sultan in the wee hours of that morning accompanied by palace police officials.

“The police report lodged by the Sultanah’s bodyguard -- on orders of the prince Tengku Temenggong Tengku Muhammad Fakhry -- stating that the police had brought in two female strangers into the ward is totally irrelevant,” she said.

“The Kelantan royalty generally knows of my existence, that I have no ill intention against the Sultan and that I have never ignored the palace officials,” Elia said.

She said police officers generally act on orders from their superiors and not individuals, thus their integrity in this matter should not be questioned unless those involved do not like the police's methods of upholding justice.

The news report has put both the police and the Sultan in a bad light, she added.

Elia Suhana said: “As a lawful wife, it is my responsibility to be together with the Sultan, especially at a time when he is critically ill.

"Because of circumstances, I was unable to be with the Sultan throughout his stay at the hospital but managed to visit him a few times," she said, adding that she chose to visit him at odd hours so as not to hurt the feelings of members of the royal family.

Elia Suhana said she had laid low up till now but had to go public because she had to clarify the news report.

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