Loh's lawyers want release of appeal record in conversion case expedited

Loh Siew Hong’s legal team is seeking the High Court in Kuala Lumpur to expedite the release of the appeal record over its dismissal of her bid to quash the unilateral conversion of her three children.

The single mother’s counsel Gunamalar Joorindanjn said that this is so they can proceed with their appeal at the Court of Appeal to quash the lower court verdict.

“The next case management is on June 7 to update on the record of appeal,” the lawyer spoke after today’s case management of Loh’s appeal before the Court of Appeal.

Per civil law, after Loh filed her notice of appeal on May 15, her legal team needs to obtain the appeal record from the High Court so they can file it at the Court of Appeal.

On May 11, the High Court denied the 35-year-old mother’s challenge against the religious status of her twin daughters, aged 14, as well as her 11-year-old son, who are under her custody courtesy of an earlier civil family court order.

In dismissing Loh’s judicial review, judge Wan Ahmad Farid Wan Salleh ruled that the children have been validly converted to Islam in accordance with Perlis Islamic state law, with the state Islamic authorities’ affidavit confirming that the children recited the kalimah syahadah (Islamic recitation to convert to Islam) in 2020.

The civil court judge pointed out that an affidavit by Perlis Islamic Religious and Malay Customs Council’s CEO Mohd Nazim Mohd Noor showed that the children showed intent via their actions to continue to be in Islam, even when they were under the custody of Loh last year.

Farid noted Nazim’s affidavit showing that the children as of Feb 22 last year were still practising Islam, performing the dawn prayer, and one of them even wanted to be a syarie lawyer.

The judge said Loh’s affidavit denying Nazim’s assertion amounted to bare denial and that the single mother did not deny the assertion that the children continued to profess Islam while under her custody.

Farid said even if the certificates of conversion were not conclusive proof in view of their unilateral nature, the “force of evidence” showed that the three children continued to practise Islam. - Mkini