Sarawak Chief Minister Adenan Satem today announced that he has secured the assurance of Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak to drop the apostasy case against Sarawakian Rooney Rebit who is of Bidayuh descent.
Adenan was referring to the National Registration Department's (NRD) move to appeal the Kuching High Court's decision which allowed Rooney to renounce Islam and instructed the department to reflect this in his identity card.
"I have indeed spoken to the prime minister today on the matter, who gave me the assurance that the appeal by NRD will be withdrawn," Adenan said in a statement today.
Yesterday, columnist Stephen Ng in a comment piece in Malaysiakini criticised Adenan, questioning whether Christians can vote for the chief minister with a clear conscience, citing Rooney's unresolved case.
Adenan in the statement apologised for the delay on announcing on the case' resolution.
"I must apologise for the delay as I only got to know about the matter today," he said.
On March 24, the Kuching High Court in a judicial review case ruled Rooney had a constitutional right to choose his faith.
It ordered the NRD to change the applicant's name in his identity card which states "Azmi Mohamad Azam" to "Rooney Rebik" and to acknowledge his religion as Christianity.
The NRD had insisted that Azmi would need a release letter from the Syariah Court to change his religion but the High Court in Kuching disagreed.
Rooney's parents had converted to Islam when he was a child and he was also made a Muslim.
Despite being officially recognised as a Muslim, Rooney had been a practising Christian.
On April 22, the NRD filed an appeal against the decision. -Mkini
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