Thesun 2009-01-07 Page04 Man Sues Ex-fiancee For Rm70000 Over Break-up

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SHAH ALAM: A graphic designer is seeking more than RM70,000 in compensation from his ex-fiancee for breaking off their engagement by text messages in December. Muhammad Salleh Muhamad Yusuf, 46, accompanied by lawyer Ahmad Nazib Johari, filed the application at the Lower Syariah Court here yesterday. His 28-year-old ex-fiancee, Nur Diana Ahmad Zubir, was also there but was unrepresented. Nazib told the court that his client sought the compensation under Section 15 of the Selangor Islamic Family Law Enactment 2003. He said the suit had been served

on Nur Diana but until now he had not received her document of defence. Nur Diana admitted that she was served the suit on Dec 20 but said she needed more time to engage counsel and challenge Salleh’s demand. Judge Kamarulzaman Ali fixed Feb 16 to re-mention the case and advised Nur Diana to prepare her document of defence before the date. Nazib told reporters later that Salleh, who works in Switzerland, sought the compensation because he had made preparations for the wedding.

He said Salleh was from Malacca while Nur Diana was from Kuala Lumpur. They were engaged on Feb 4, 2008, and planned to get married on Jan 17. However, he said, Nur Diana’s father on Dec 4 sent two text messages to Salleh to break off the engagement. “They got engaged based on mutual consent. The plaintiff did not know why his fiancee broke off the engagement. All of a sudden, Nur Diana’s father sent text messages asking to break off the engagement and when he received the text messages, the plaintiff was in Malaysia,” Nazib said. – Bernama

Azmi grateful his name was cleared: Brother KUALA LUMPUR: The younger brother of the late Tan Sri Azmi Kamaruddin said yesterday the former Supreme Court judge was thankful that his name had been cleared of the taint of the 1988 judicial crisis. Datuk Suhaimi Kamaruddin said his brother told him three days ago that “I’m grateful my name has been cleared before I close my eyes and I want to express my thanks to those involved in clearing my name”. Azmi, 75, died at the Ampang Hospital here on Monday night and

was buried at 12.30pm yesterday at the Dusun Tua Muslim Cemetery in Hulu Langat, his family’s ancestral village. Azmi is one of six judges who were removed during the judicial crisis of 1988. The others were the then lord president Tun Salleh Abas, Tan Sri George Edward Seah Kim Seng, Tan Sri Wan Hamzah Mohd Salleh, Tan Sri Eusoffe Abdoolcader and Tan Sri Wan Suleiman Pawanteh. On April 18 last year, Prime Minister

Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi announced that the six would be given ex-gratia payments in recognition of their contribution and to regain the the judiciary its credibility. Suhaimi, a deputy minister in the 1980s and former Umno Youth chief, said his brother had also expressed the hope that the Chief Justice of the Federal Court Tan Sri Zaki Azmi would restore the country’s judiciary to its former glory, emulating his (Zaki’s) father, the late former chief justice Tun Azmi Mohamed. – Bernama

Lawyer ticked off by Syariah Appeals Court judges by Opalyn Mok [email protected]

GEORGE TOWN: A lawyer for the state Islamic Affairs Council was ticked off by the Penang Syariah Appeals Court judges for not presenting a written submission to the court in the council’s appeal against a Muslim convert’s case yesterday. “Why is it that you were ordered to make a written submission when this case was mentioned on Dec 4 but you did not comply with the order?” asked one of the presiding judges Datuk Ibrahim Lembut. “You were given a month to prepare and present the written submission to the court but you only submitted it today. I want you to explain why you did not adhere to the court orders,” he said. The lawyer, Ahmad Munawir Abdul Aziz, apologised and told the court: “I must have misunderstood the court order as I thought the written submission need only be presented today.” Another of the presiding judges, Datuk Muhammad Asri Abdullah, said it was not fair for the appellant to present the written submission only on that day as the respondent would need time to prepare a reply. “The court also needs to have a copy of the written submission prior to today,” he said before asking the respondent, Tan Ean Huang, represented by Ahmad Jailani Abdul Ghani, if he was ready. Ahmad Jailani said he did not know what Ahmad Munawir would be presenting in his written submission and thus, he may need some time to respond to the points raised

Tan with her lawyer Ahmad Jailani

SUNPIX BY MASRY CHE ANI

Man sues ex-fiancee for RM70,000 over break-up

| WEDNESDAY JANUARY 7 2009

by Ahmad Munawir and asked for a month to do so. “Since it took him one month to do the research for his written submission, I will need at least a month to do my research to response to his submission,” he said. However, the presiding judges did not agree and fixed today to hear the submissions from both sides. The third presiding judge is Datuk Abu Bakar Ahmad. In the case, the council is appealing against a ruling by the Penang Syariah High Court to allow Tan to renounce Islam and revert to Buddhism last May. Tan, whose Muslim name was Siti Fatimah Tan Abdullah, 39, converted to Islam in July 1998 to marry an Iranian but her husband left her a few months after their marriage. She then filed her application to renounce Islam in May 2006. After two years, Syariah Court judge Othman Ibrahim allowed her application in a landmark decision last May 8.