Married couple suing Jawi for wrongful arrest wants explanation

KUALA LUMPUR: A married couple suing the Federal Territory Islamic Religious Department (Jawi) and six others for wrongful arrest now wants to know the identities of the officers who raided their hotel room.

They had been arrested for khalwat (close proximity) in January although they showed the officers a photograph of their marriage certificate.

Self-employed Mohd Ridhuan Giman, 34, and his wife Siti Sarah Maulad Abdullah, 26, are applying to the Attorney-General's Chambers (AGC) to provide details of the eight Jawi officers involved in the raid.

"We want to determine ... if they are genuine Jawi officers,” their lawyer Adam Luqman Amdan told reporters after the proceedings in chambers.

Adam said his clients also want to obtain certain documents from Jawi through the AGC, including the papers filed by the religious authority at its headquarters in registering the couple's arrest.

"We want to know the basis of their arrest. We are also asking for photographs and a video recorded by Jawi officers on the day of the raid to know the questions they posed to my clients," he said.

He added that Jawi would have four days from April 26 to respond through the AGC.

"If our request is not accepted, we will file formal applications with the court for an order," said Adam.

He added that they filed an application on Thursday to obtain documents from the management of the hotel where the raid took place, as well as its CCTV recording, photographs and the room layout.

He said High Court judge Justice Nor Bee Ariffin has set May 3 to hear the couple's application and would send a notice to the hotel management to attend the hearing.Federal Counsel Shaiful Nizam Shahrin, from the AGC, confirmed the discovery hearing and added that the judge has set May 31 for case management.

The couple, who filed the lawsuit on Feb 17, claimed that they have been married for over two years.

Among others, they are seeking a court order that their arrest and detention were wrongful.

The couple said they were staying in a budget hotel here on Jan 8 when eight Jawi enforcement officers raided their room at 1.30am.

In their statement of claim, they said several male officers forcefully entered their room although Mohd Ridhuan informed them that his wife was not properly dressed.

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Mohd Ridhuan, who said he suffered neck injuries during the raid, added that he showed the officers photographs of their marriage certificate and wedding on his cellphone but the officers did not accept it.

He claimed that the officers were determined to arrest them and directed his wife, who was clad only in a singlet and shorts, to put on her clothes in front of them.

They were arrested for khalwat and taken to a police station and the Jawi office.

They are seeking an apology, various damages and declarations over wrongful arrest, wrongful confinement, violation of privacy, trespass, and abuse of office on the part of the enforcement officers; and claiming violation of fundamental liberties under the Federal Constitution, Syariah Criminal Procedure (Federal Territories) Act 1997 and other relevant laws.

The couple and Mohd Ridhuan’s mother, as the third plaintiff, named Jawi, enforcement officers Mohd Shiham Ramli and Mohammad Izehar Md Amin, the chief enforcement officer, Jawi director-general, Prime Minister’s Department and the Government as defendants.