Businessman’s ex-wife to serve 7 days in jail for contempt of court

Emilia Hanafi, the former wife of businessman SM Faisal SM Nasimuddin Kamal, was sent to Kajang prison to serve a seven-day jail sentence starting today, for failing to comply with a Shariah High Court order on visitation dates for her three children.

On Sept 4, 2019, the Shariah High Court sentenced Emilia to seven days in prison for contempt of court after she disobeyed an order by unilaterally rescheduling the visitation dates for her children, aged 10 to 16, to be with their father, Faisal.

However, she was released on bail of RM5,000 pending her appeal.

Emilia, 43, arrived at the Shariah Court in Kuala Lumpur at 9.50am accompanied by her lawyer and family members.

Lawyer Nazri Yahya, who represented Emilia, told reporters that his client was calm and mentally ready when she surrendered at the Kuala Lumpur Shariah Court police office today.

In fact, he said his client would also appear at the Kuala Lumpur Magistrate’s Court on July 6, in the trial proceedings of the case of Faisal, who is alleged to have injured his ex-wife.

Emilia and Faisal got married in 2002 and divorced in 2016. Emila was granted full custody of their three children with Faisal given visitation rights.

On June 8, Emilia filed a judicial review application to challenge the jurisdiction of the Shariah Court, which sentenced her to seven days in jail for contempt of court.

Emilia filed the application through Messrs Nizam Bashir & Associates at the High Court, naming Faisal, 43, her former mother-in-law Zaleha Ismail, 70, and five others as respondents.

Also named were the registrar of the Kuala Lumpur Shariah High Court, the chief registrar of the Federal Territories Shariah Court of Appeal, the Kuala Lumpur Shariah High Court, the Kuala Lumpur Shariah Court of Appeal and the government.

Emilia sought a declaration that the Shariah High Court and the Kuala Lumpur Shariah Court of Appeal, with a limited local jurisdiction, had no jurisdiction to hear and punish any individual who contravened the court, as this was the exclusive right of the civil courts at the Federal Court, Court of Appeal and High Court level, according to Article 126 of the Federal Constitution.

The judicial review application will be heard on July 20 before High Court judge Ahmad Kamal Md Shahid.