[UPDATED] Gag order on photos, names of Loh’s kids in media issued

KUALA LUMPUR – Judicial commissioner Evrol Mariette Peters has issued a gag order on the publication of photographs and names (including Islamic names) of single mother Loh Siew Hong’s three children in any media, including social media platforms effective immediately.

In a brief statement, her lawyers said the court here has set April 29 to hear the application by the Perlis Islamic Affairs and Malay Customs Council (Maips) which seeks to vary the current custody order accorded to Loh on March 31 last year. 

The April 29 hearing will be held at the Malaya High Court (Family) at the court complex here, said lawyers Srimurugan Alagan, Shamsher Singh Thind and Gunamalar Joorindanjn.

This came after today’s case management proceeding that took place at 10.30am today over Zoom.

Earlier this month, the lawyers said in a statement that any party was free to make whatever application it deemed reasonable, and it was up to the court to decide whether to allow such application in accordance with the law, after hearing a reply from the other party.

However, they said that Maips’ contention that Loh’s three children are converts was indefensible as the council acknowledged Loh did not give permission to any party to register the three children as Muslim converts.

On February 21, the high court granted Loh a writ of habeas corpus against the unlawful detention of her three children. 

Judge Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah, when delivering his judgment, agreed with Loh’s lawyer A. Srimurugan that the respondents in this matter had gone against court orders issued in 2019 and 2021 that granted the single mother full custody of the children.

“The three children are to be released forthwith into the sole custody, care, and control of the applicant,” said Sequerah.

The three children, twin girls aged 14 and a boy aged 10, have since been reunited with their mother. – The Vibes, March 17, 2022