LAWYER Nik Elin Zurina Nik Abdul Rashid said she has lodged three police reports as she received numerous death threats over her constitutional challenge to provisions under Kelantan's Syariah law.
She told The New Straits Times (NST) in an interview that there were also online attacks against her, even threatening to slaughter ("sembelih") her.
"I have lost count of how many threats have been made against me.
"These individuals do not understand... If only they took time to read and understand the laws and reasons behind the challenge," she said.
She said those concerned blindly followed instructions from their political leaders.
Last Friday, the Federal Court ruled that 16 provisions under the Kelantan Syariah Criminal Code (l) Enactment 2019 are unconstitutional and invalid.
Chief Justice Tun Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat, who led a nine-member panel of judges, delivered the historic verdict following a challenge mounted by Nik Elin and her daughter Tengku Yasmin Nastasha Abdul Rahman, both natives of Kelantan.
Tengku Maimun said that the court allowed their petition because the Kelantan state assembly had approved laws that it did not have the authority to make.
However, the panel decided that two other provisions that were also challenged were valid.
The verdict was reached through an 8-1 majority judgement with Tan Sri Abdul Rahman Sebli, the chief justice of Sabah and Sarawak, making the dissenting decision.
Nik Elin said Islam is defined by peace – a concept that contrasts with the actions of certain politicians and their supporters.
"Islam to us is about love, mercy and peace, while their actions are the opposite," she was quoted as saying by NST.
"These politicians are resorting to desperate measures and hopefully they will open their minds."
She stressed that there was no political relevance to the issue and that it was just a challenge on behalf of Malaysians.
Following the verdict, PAS secretary-general Datuk Seri Takiyuddin Hassan had said that the Federal Court’s judgement was a “dark day in history for Muslims” in the country and that the decision would also threaten Syariah law.
Yesterday, G25 Malaysia, which consists of prominent retired civil servants, said they viewed Takiyuddin's statement as a highly provocative and dangerous one, bordering on incitement.
"Being a lawyer and a former minister for legal affairs, he should have known better and advised the crowd to respect the judgement of the Federal Court, instead of taking the opportunity to make the judgement a political issue.
"G25 fervently hopes that the Kelantan government will take the Federal Court’s judgement in the right spirit and do the needful to amend the State Syariah Criminal Code by deleting the impugned provisions; to make the State Enactment conform with the Federal Constitution," said its executive secretary, Jasmine Zulkifli. – The Vibes, February 12, 2024
