The Malaysian Insider – 2 hours 43 minutes agoRELATED CONTENT
- Shariah judge, spouse cleared of khalwat for second time
A Shariah High Court judge and his financial adviser partner were cleared of khalwat (close proximity) for a second time at the Penang Shariah High Court today.
Adam Tumiran, 47, and his second wife, Nurul Izani Md Isa, 37, were acquitted and discharged after the court ruled that prosecution had failed to establish reasonable doubt on the couple's marital status.
Judge Zaim Md Yudin also ordered the court to return the RM1,000 bail to each of the accused.
In his written judgment, which was about 100 pages long, Zaim ruled that the prosecution had failed to prove that the couple were not legally married during the time of their arrest in December four years ago.
Zaim also read out details from the trial, such as Adam and Izani keeping their marriage a secret from their families for personal reasons, and going to Thailand to marry without using their passports when crossing the border.
The couple had a marriage certificate stating that they were married in Satun, Thailand, on October 13, 2010, when they made a day trip there without using their passports.
He also said witnesses called by the defence had testified that the duo were already married before they were caught for allegedly committing khalwat.
Zaim said even if there was a marriage certificate, the court must be sure the document was not obtained by fraud since both accused had entered Thailand without travel documents.
"The issue is whether the accused's version of what happened can be accepted by the court."
However, Zaim said the prosecution failed to supply proof or witnesses to support its claim that the Thai-issued marriage certificate was a fake.
He said the best people to verify this were witnesses from the Thai religious authority but none turned up to testify in court.
The prosecution also could not furnish any records to prove that the couple did not register their marriage in Satun, he said.
After he was acquitted, Adam was seen wiping his tears. He declined to speak to the press when stopped outside the courtroom with his lawyers, Ahmad Munawir Abdul Aziz, Wan Faridulhadi Md Yusof and Roslee Razak.
Munawir said the judgment was made on the merits of the case and the defence hoped that there would be no more appeals.
"Adam had been suspended due to the case. We hope he will be reinstated soon. It has been a long four years for the couple," he said.
Adam and Izani were charged with committing the offence at a state government quarters on Jalan Masjid Negeri in Penang at 2.05am on December 5, 2010.
The couple, who were found alone in the house, were picked up by religious enforcement officers after a tip-off.
The couple were then cleared in 2012 by a lower Shariah court when judge Othman Ibrahim ruled that their marriage papers were valid, as found by the Shariah High Court in Kota Tinggi, Johor, in mid-December 2010.
It was reported that the court in Johor ruled that the couple had married in southern Thailand and obtained a legal marriage certificate.
The prosecution appealed against the acquittal and in April last year, the Shariah Court of Appeal allowed an application for a retrial on technical grounds.
In April this year, Zaim ordered Adam and Izani to enter defence after finding that the prosecution had proved a prima facie case.
The prosecution was represented shariah deputy public prosecutors Mohd Najmuddin Mustafa and Mohd Fahmi Mohd Idris. – November 21, 2014.
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