Christian woman in centre of khalwat storm

GEORGE TOWN: An Indonesian Catholic woman's effort to prove that she cannot be tried on a khalwat charge received a boost today when the Syariah Court of Appeal shot down a prosecutor's objection preventing her from being heard.
Court chairman Tan Sri Ibrahim Lembut, who led a three-man panel, ruled that the objections against Halimah's move (she uses only one name) were technical in nature and not likely to affect the course of justice.
Chief Syarie Prosecutor Mohammad Zalkhairi Aziz had filed a preliminary objection stating that the dates on the submission and supporting affidavit were not the same.
Halimah, a worker at a traditional medical treatment centre, was charged with committing close proximity with a male customer on Dec 8, 2011, at 11.40am in Jalan Siang Tek and pleaded guilty when bought to court on May 15, 2012.
The court then sentenced the therapist to 14 days' jail and a RM3,000 fine. Halimah's appeal against the sentence on Dec 12 the same year was unsuccessful despite her furnishing her baptism certificate and a statement from the Indonesian Consulate acknowledging her as a Catholic.