KUALA LUMPUR: Siti Nuramira Abdullah, who was arrested after pulling off an indecent act at a comedy club’s open mic night, will be charged today at the Syariah High Court for allegedly insulting Islam.
The 26-year-old was detained by the Federal Territory Islamic Religious Department (Jawi) shortly after she was released on RM20,000 bail yesterday morning.
Siti Nuramira was at the bail counter at the Kuala Lumpur complex here with her lawyer Ramesh Chandran to sign her bail form when she was taken away.
It is understood she would be facing a charge under Section 7 of the Syariah Criminal Offences (Federal Territories) Act 1997.
Section 7 refers to the offence of insulting, or bringing into contempt, the religion of Islam.
If convicted, she faces a maximum RM3,000 fine or up to two years in jail or both.
On Monday, Siti Nuramira and her boyfriend, V. Alexander Navin, 38, managed to secure RM20,000 each for their bail payment from a crowdfunding initiative.
Navin was released from the Petaling Jaya Court Complex yesterday where he was charged.
Prior to posting bail, Siti Nuramira was held at the Beranang satellite prison and Navin was at the Kuala Kubu Baru satellite prison while awaiting transfers to Kajang Women’s Prison and Sg Buloh Prison, respectively.
On July 13, Siti Nuramira pleaded not guilty at the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court for insulting Islam.
According to the charge sheet, Siti Nuramira was accused of insulting Islam by admitting she is Muslim and memorised 15 juz of the Quran before discarding her tudung and baju kurung at the Crackhouse Comedy Club restaurant in Taman Tun Dr Ismail on June 4.
Siti Nuramira was charged under Section 298A of the Penal Code with causing disharmony, disunity, or feelings of enmity, hatred, or ill will, or prejudicing the maintenance of harmony or unity, on grounds of religion.
She is facing a maximum of five years of imprisonment upon conviction.
Meanwhile, Navin pleaded not guilty to two counts under Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 for misusing network facilities.
For the first charge, Navin was accused of sharing a posting on his Instagram account on June 5 with the intention of insulting other people.
For the second charge, he allegedly shared the content via his YouTube account on June 16, with the intention of insulting others.
Prior to their arrests, a 54-second video circulated on social media showing a woman claiming to have memorised 15 juz of the Quran before discarding her tudung and baju kurung, leaving her in a low-cut top and short skirt.
