Emilia to surrender today to serve seven-day jail term
SHAH ALAM - Emilia Hanafi, the former wife of tycoon Datuk SM Faisal SM Nasimuddin, will surrender herself to the Kuala Lumpur Syariah Court, today to serve her seven-day jail sentence.
She is scheduled to appear before syarie judge Mohamed Fouzi Mokhtar at 10am.
This was informed by her lawyer Nizam Bashir.
"Malaysia is about to witness a single mother of three sons be imprisoned for seven days as ordered by the Syariah Court.
"Her offence? Primarily for swapping one visitation date weekend at the request of her children," he said in a statement.
He said even Petaling Jaya MP Maria Chin Abdullah has raised concerns over the matter, but was instead slapped with a contempt charge and then sentenced to seven days jail after being convicted of the offence.
Nizam also said Emilia was emotionally drained and suffered from mental trauma, ridicule and a multiplicity of allegations.
"Emilia represents not only herself, but many voiceless and oppressed women who suffer similar injustices and violations.
"Women’s voices should not be drowned in seeking and obtaining justice against men who have the power, physically, socially and financially," he said.
It was also believed that representatives from women's groups will be present at the court today carrying placards demanding for justice for Emilia and other Muslim women in similar situations.
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.
Fouzi said the seven-day jail sentence against Emilia was warranted because she had willfully disobeyed the consent judgment recorded.
Emilia has filed a judicial review application through Messrs. Nizam Bashir & Associates at the High Court on June 8, naming her ex-husband, Faisal, 43, his mother Datin Seri Zaleha Ismail, 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.
On June 15, the Kuala Lumpur magistrate's court issued a warrant of arrest for Emilia over her failure to appear in a criminal case against her ex-husband.
Faisal was charged under Section 323 of the Penal Code for assaulting Emilia in 2016.
Emilia was scheduled to appear as a prosecution witness in the case.
