Court quashes Christian woman’s khalwat conviction

The Malaysian Insider
by LOOI SUE-CHERN

Halimah, the Indonesian Christian woman who was charged and found guilty of "khalwat" (close proximity) two years ago, can finally put her worries behind her, as her conviction was quashed by the Penang lower shariah court this morning.

Syarie prosecutor Mohamad Fahmi Mohamad Idris informed the court that they are withdrawing its case against Halimah.

The instruction came from the shariah chief prosecuting officer under the Section 103 of the Penang Shariah Criminal Procedure Enactment, which allows the chief prosecuting officer to withdraw any charge at any stage of the case.

Judge Zaini Abd Rahim allowed the application by the prosecution and ordered Halimah to be discharged and acquitted immediately.

Halimah, 42, a reflexologist, and a mother of four from Bandung, was acquitted after the charge against her was withdrawn, just as her case was scheduled for retrial at the Penang lower shariah court.

"I am finally free. I am so happy," she said told reporters when she walked out of the courtroom.

"I am crying because I am so happy. I thank tuan-tuan (sirs, referring to her lawyer Wan Faridulhadi Mohd Yusoff and officials from the Indonesian Consulate-General in Penang) for helping me.

"Thank you, adik-adik (little brothers and sisters from the media for highlighting my case)."

Halimah was charged with committing close proximity under Section 27(b) of the Shariah Criminal Offences Enactment (Penang) on May 15, 2012 at a Penang Shariah Lower Court.

It was reported that Halimah, who is illiterate, had pleaded guilty as she was unrepresented and did not understand the charge against her.

She was sentenced to 14 days jail and fined RM3,000. She has not served her sentence pending the appeal.

"It has been difficult. My heart had been troubled ever since. I could not eat or sleep very well as I was worried.

"Now it is over. I want to call my family back home to tell them the news."

The soft-spoken and shy woman, who could not leave Malaysia while her case was pending, said she is planning to go back to Indonesia next year to see her family.

"I will still go on working here. I want to save up more money to take home.

"Maybe by then, I will be a grandmother. Who knows?"

Halimah's son got married this May but she had to miss the wedding.

Her employer Datin Josephine Ong, who paid for Halimah's legal fees and stood by her throughout the case, said she is just happy.

"I am happy for Halimah. She is now a free woman."

Lawyer Cecil Rajendra, who was holding a watching brief for the Malaysian Bar Council and the National Human Rights Society (Hakam), said they are now discussing the next step.

They are contemplating suing the relevant authorities for the ordeal Halimah and her employer had to face for more than two years.

Rajendra said there has been no formal apology to Halimah by the court or the state Islamic department (JHEAIPP) that had her taken from her place of work on Jalan Siang Tek on December 8, 2011, for interrogation.

Her detention by the religious authorities subsequently led her to be charged with khalwat.

"Halimah and her employer were both put under stress due to the wrongful prosecution.

"She should never have been charged in the first place. She was virtually under house arrest since she could not go home to her family in Indonesia.

"We will discuss further after this if we should pursue this," Rajendra said, adding that Halimah's rights as a woman, migrant worker and religious minority were also violated.

Cecil also thanked the Consul-General of Indonesia in Penang, Ronald P. Manik, for writing to the Penang shariah chief judge recently regarding the case.

Halimah's case attracted attention because she was likely the first non-Muslim to be charged and found guilty for khalwat in the country. – August 26, 2014.