Ensure State Laws In Line With Federal Court Ruling Ag Urged

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Klang MP Charles Santiago says Attorney-General Idrus Harun should break his silence on the issue of unilateral conversions.PETALING JAYA: Attorney-General (AG) Idrus Harun needs to ensure that state laws uphold the Federal Court’s ruling against unilateral conversions, says Klang MP Charles Santiago.
Santiago said this was needed to prevent more cases of unilateral conversions by “husbands who do it out of spite”, citing the recent case involving single mother Loh Siew Hong and her three children.
“We need the AG, who has kept silent, to look into ensuring state laws are in compliance with the Federal Court order,” the DAP MP said in a statement today.
He said the Perlis religious authorities were defending unilateral conversions because it was allowed in the state’s enactment, but many were pointing out that this was unconstitutional.
Santiago said right after the 2018 Federal Court ruling that banned unilateral conversions, it was made clear that state laws must be aligned to reflect the Federal Court ruling. However, he questioned why this was not implemented.
“The mother (Loh), who endured physical abuse at the hands of her then husband, is made to undergo even more emotional trauma because this has been fashioned to look like a religious issue,” he said.
Today, the High Court granted Loh’s habeas corpus application seeking the freedom of her 14-year-old twin daughters and 10-year-old son from their alleged detention after being separated from them for three years.
Earlier, Perlis mufti Asri Zainul Abidin confirmed that the state’s religious authorities had registered Loh’s three children as Muslims without her being present.
The Federal Court previously ruled that the conversion of any child under 18 to another religion needed the consent of both parents.
Santiago said Asri should know that the Federal Constitution was the supreme law of the country and that the Federal Court ruling was binding on all states.
“Before this gets worse, let’s hope the AG responds,” he said. - FMT

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