PETALING JAYA: Emilia Hanafi, the former wife of tycoon SM Faisal SM Nasimuddin, will surrender herself to the shariah court in Kuala Lumpur on Monday and serve her seven-day contempt sentence.
At a press conference, lawyer Siti Kassim said Emilia, 43, was forced to do so due to the continued emotional fatigue and mental trauma she faced.
“She is trapped and has no choice other than to surrender herself,” said Siti, adding that Emilia was not surrendering herself willingly but “under protest”.
In an earlier ruling regarding visitation rights, Kuala Lumpur shariah high court judge Fouzi Mokhtar said Emilia was sentenced to jail because she had failed to produce her children before Faisal despite a court order.
Fouzi said the seven-day sentence against Emilia was warranted as she had wilfully gone against the consent judgment recorded.
Emilia had reportedly filed a judicial review at the High Court in Kuala Lumpur to argue that the Kuala Lumpur shariah court had no right to impose such a sentence as she lived in Kajang, Selangor.
On June 15, the Kuala Lumpur magistrates’ court issued a warrant of arrest for Emilia over her failure to appear in a criminal case against her ex-husband.
Faisal was charged with assaulting Emilia in 2016 under Section 323 of the Penal Code at the magistrates’ court in Kuala Lumpur.
Emilia was scheduled to appear as a prosecution witness in the case.
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