Lawyer Nik Elin facing death threats

PETALING JAYA: Lawyer Nik Elin Zurina Nik Abdul Rashid has lodged three police reports following recent death threats, Sinar Harian reports.

The threats were following the Federal Court challenge that nullified 16 provisions in Kelantan's syariah criminal laws.

Nik Elin said it was important for the people to read every provision in order to better understand the law.

"I have forgotten the number of threats I have received from individuals who are unable to understand.

"Most of them are just blindly following instructions from their political leaders," she said during a recent podcast.

On Friday (Feb 9), the Federal Court allowed their challenge and declared 16 of the 18 provisions unconstitutional.

In an 8-1 majority decision, the apex court allowed the application by the mother and daughter duo to challenge 18 provisions under the Kelantan Syariah Criminal Code Enactment 2019.

Nik Elin Zurina Nik Abdul Rashid and her daughter Tengku Yasmin Natasha Tengku Abdul Rahman made the legal challenge on grounds that the provisions were invalid due to the Kelantan state legal authority having no power to enact such laws.

Chief Justice Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat, who chaired a panel of nine judges, said the issue at hand was whether the Kelantan state legal authority had enacted the impugned law provisions within the ambit of the Federal Constitution.

After the decision, Nik Elin said that she was not doing this for herself but for everyone despite being vilified, condemned and cursed.