Adenan to formulate policy safeguarding freedom of religion
In a press statement yesterday, Adenan also gave his word that he would look into other cases similar to that of Sarawakian Rooney Rebit.
“Now that I have persuaded the federal authorities to withdraw the case against Rooney Rebit, please be rest assured that I will look at the other cases in due time after the election and come up with a clear policy,” he said.
“This is especially so in cases where people are left in ‘limbo’.”
Adenan’s promise came after his recent intervention in Rooney’s case, which resulted in the National Registration Department (JPN) on Tuesday withdrawing its notice of appeal against the Kuching High Court, paving the way for Rooney to finally be able to own a new MyKad bearing the name he was born with and to be legally recognised as a Christian.
Meanwhile, Putrajaya-backed Institute of Islamic Strategic Research Malaysia (Iksim) chief executive officer Datuk Prof Mahamad Naser Disa opined that the JPN should have respected the Islamic Council of Sarawak’s (MIS) no objection to the ruling as it is the religious authority in Sarawak.
“Sarawak Syariah Court has also issued a letter stating that it has no jurisdiction over Rooney based on the statement by MIS. By allowing this case to be prolonged in court would only be inviting misconceptions towards religious institutions.
“The Kuching High Court’s decision does not interfere in legal principles and most definitely will not affect others cases in the future,” he said in a statement.
He also noted that the case should not be regarded as apostasy in Islam as presumed by many people.
“This is an administrative case because Rooney has in fact never embraced or practised Islam,” he stressed.
State Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) chairman Baru Bian suggested a special council be set up to deal with matters of religion so that parties concerned would not have to go through the long and emotionally-draining court process to assert their rights to personal beliefs.
“This should not be an isolated and one-off case, which is resolved during this campaign period,” he said.
“As an example, in the case of Sharon Fiona Braoh @ Nur Shafiqah Abdullah, a Consent Order was obtained from the court that Jais (Islamic Religious Department) and the Sarawak Islamic Council would state in writing that they have no objection for her to be released from the religion of Islam.”
However, he said JPN still refused to amend Sharon’s MyKad.
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