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2 May 2016
Malay Mail Online
Sarawak churches thank Adenan but blast NRD for meddling with religious freedoms
KUALA LUMPUR, May 2 — The Association of Churches, Sarawak (ACS) welcomed Chief Minister Tan Sri Adenan Satem’s announcement today that the National Registration Department (NRD) is withdrawing its court appeal against a Dayak Bidayuh man who reverted to Christianity from Islam.
Its secretary-general Ambrose Linang however panned the NRD’s initial decision last month to pursue the case against Roneey Rebit to the Court of Appeal.
“There really is no need for NRD to file appeal in the first place because any such appeal is seen as interfering in the religious freedom of Sarawakians,” Linang told Malay Mail Online when contacted.
He said as far as he knows Roneey’s case is the first to be taken to court after the NRD refused to process his application.
He hoped the NRD will, from now, process any application from Muslim converts who seek to revert to their previous religions.
“NRD should not make it difficult for the Muslim converts to go back to their old religions,” Linang said.
He also expressed his gratitude to Adenan for the latter’s concern in Roneey’s case.
He added that he did not think the announcement today was related to the current campaigning for the May 7 state election.
“I must thank the chief minister for his concern over Roneey’s case and I do not, for one moment, believe that the assurance to withdraw the appeal has anything to do with the Sarawak elections.
“It is just co-incidental and there were cases in the past where the chief minister made on the spot-the-decisions on matters affecting the people,” Linang said.
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24 March 2016
Justice Yew, “He does not need a Syariah Court order to release him from Islam because freedom of religion is his constitutional right and only he can exercise that right.”
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Star
24 March 2016 | MYT 5:52 PM
Court rules Sarawak Muslim convert has right to be Christian
Religious groups and supporters welcome the High Court’s decision. The applicant was not present in court on Thursday.
KUCHING: A Sarawakian Bidayuh who was converted to Islam as a child has been granted a declaration that he is a Christian by the High Court here.
In her decision on a judicial review brought by Azmi Mohamad Azam @ Roneey, judge Datuk Yew Jen Kie said this was in accordance with the applicant’s constitutional right to freedom of religion as he was now an adult.
She also ordered the National Registration Department (NRD) to change the man’s name to Roneey Rebit and his religion from Islam to Christianity in his identity card.
In his application, Roneey had sought a declaration that he is a Christian, a letter of release from Islam from the Sarawak Islamic Religious Department and Sarawak Islamic Council, and orders compelling the NRD to change his name and religion in his identity card and its records.
The state religious authorities did not object to issuing the letter but the NRD had insisted on a letter of release and order from the Syariah Court.
Yew held that Roneey’s case was not one of jurisdiction but raised constitutional issues with regard to his right to religious freedom.
“He does not need a Syariah Court order to release him from Islam because freedom of religion is his constitutional right and only he can exercise that right,” she said on Thursday.
Yew noted that Roneey had been born into a Bidayuh Christian family in 1975 but his parents converted to Islam when he was eight.
“His conversion to the Muslim faith was not of his own volition but by virtue of his parents’ conversion when he was a minor.
“He is not challenging the validity of his conversion as a minor. But having become a major, he is free to exercise his right of freedom to religion and he chose Christianity,” she said, adding that at no point had Roneey professed Islam as his religion.
As such, she held that since he was now an adult, he was at liberty not only to exercise his right of religious freedom but to seek relief from the civil court.
“The (NRD) had not acted fairly towards the applicant by insisting on a letter of release and order from the Syariah Court,” she said.
Roneey was not present in court as he is working overseas.
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After 33 years, Sarawak Muslim man wins court fight to be Christian again http://buff.ly/1q3JtMM
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Zurairi AR
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malaysiakini.com @malaysiakini
High Court allows Sarawakian to renounce Islam
The Kuching High Court has allowed a Sarawakian Bidayuh, who was converted to Islam as a child, to change her religion to Christianity.
High Court Judge Yew Ken Kie granted the declaration to Azmi Mohamad Azam @ Roneey following a judicial review, according to The Star Online.
Justice Yew also ordered the National Registration Department (NRD) to change the applicant’s name to Roneey Rebit and his religion to Christianity in his identity card.
The NRD had insisted that Azmi would need a release letter from the Syariah Court to change his religion but the judge disagreed.
Justice Yew said as an adult, Azmi was now free to choose his faith according to the constitutional guarantee of freedom of religion.
“He does not need a Syariah Court order to release him from Islam because freedom of religion is his constitutional right and only he can exercise that right.
“His conversion to the Muslim faith was not of his own volition but by virtue of his parents’ conversion when he was a minor.
“He is not challenging the validity of his conversion as a minor. But having become a major, he is free to exercise his right of freedom to religion and he chose Christianity,” she was quoted as saying.
https://www.malaysiakini.com/news/335170
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weehingthong 