JKSM has no power to prosecute Indonesian woman in apostasy case

IPOH: The Syariah Judiciary Department (JKSM) does not have the authority to prosecute an apostasy offence involving an Indonesian woman because the offence was allegedly committed outside the country.

JKSM director-general Datuk Dr Mohd Na'im Mokhtar, who is also Syariah chief judge, however, said the individual can be prosecuted under the Syariah Criminal Enactment 1992 if the offence was committed in this country.

"For example, an Indonesian Muslim was arrested (for committing khalwat) in Malaysia, that individual can be punished under the laws of our country. We do not see where the person is from as long as he is a Muslim," he told reporters when met at Ipoh Syariah Court here today.

Previously, a non-Muslim man claimed in a viral video that he got a foreign Muslim woman to apostatise.

On Sunday, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Religious Affairs) Datuk Seri Dr Zulkifli Mohamad Al Bakri said the police were now investigating the matter.

-- BERNAMA