Malaysia groups angered by bowler’s release over “raping” 13-year-old

Malaysia women angered by court ruling to free bowler who raped 13-year-old.

KUALA LUMPUR: Anger is on the rise in Malaysia after a court released bowler Noor Afizal Azizan on probation in a case that saw the man plead guilty to statutory rape of a 13-year-old girl in the country.

The three-judge panel of the Court of Appeals on Thursday overturned a lower court’s decision to jail the man.

More shocking to many Malaysians was the reasoning behind the release.

The judges were reported to have agreed with Azizan’s lawyer, who argued that “public interest would not be served if Noor Afizal was sent to jail as he had a bright future.”

The Joint Action Group For Gender Equality, which comprises 6 leading Malaysian women’s groups, in a statement on Sunday called on the judiciary to clarify its decision.

“We are troubled that the perpetrator’s potential for ‘a bright future’, presumably derived from his status as a national athlete, was used as one of the grounds for sentencing,” it said.

“On the surface, the judgment appears to hint at the application of a double standard by implying that anyone with the right ‘credentials’ can commit a crime, and get away with a rap on the knuckles,” it added.

Making matters worse, online Malaysians took aim at the court with the hashtag #BrightFutureRapeOK. They argued that the ruling shows double standards in the country and gives tacit approval for rape in Malaysia.

“I just don’t get it. You rape a 13-year-old and then because of national interest, you get freed. So we just have to be important enough so we can rape women and get away with it,” said activist Mahammad Aziz, who told Bikyamasr.com that he was “shocked” at the decision.

“I find it very scary what the court has done. And to claim national interest for a bowler? Really? Since when is Malaysia a big bowling country?” he added.

The bowlers’ lawyer, Hisyam Teh Poh Teik, said the Court of Appeal, whose decision is final and cannot be appealed, had merely sided with an initial court verdict, releasing Noor Afizal, that had taken into account all the factors.

“Noor Afizal is not a criminal,” he told AFP. “There was no force, no violence, nothing whatsoever … and he owned up after the incident.”

Azizan pleaded guilty to having sex with the girl at a hotel in 2009 when he was 19.

A district court had initially released him on a 25,000 ringgit ($8,000) bond for five years of probation, taking into consideration that the girl had agreed.

But women’s rights activists question the logic of the court, asking if a 13-year-old girl can honestly decide if she is willing to have sex.

“I work all the time with battered women and girls and in my experience there is no way that a 13-year-old young girl can choose to have sex. She was most likely manipulated. The man responsible should be in prison for a long time,” said one social worker in Kuala Lumpur.

The case has once again highlighted what many in Malaysia perceive as a growing divide between the courts, the people and women’s rights.

A number of activists online pointed to the fact that had the case been tried in Europe or elsewhere, Azizan would have been tried for pedophilia and “there would have been no questions about that. But in Malaysia it seems to be different.”