Faisal’s lawyer Akberdin Abdul Kader told FMT that the comments by Maria Chin Abdullah showed that the Petaling Jaya MP was ignorant about the facts surrounding the case involving his client’s former wife, Emilia Hanafi.

“She did not even consult the other side before making such a strong statement,” said Akberdin, adding that he had been instructed by Faisal to initiate contempt proceedings against Maria “for insulting the shariah court”.

“Being a lawmaker, she has to be fair to both sides and respect the law all the more.”

Emilia was slapped with a seven-day jail sentence yesterday by the Kuala Lumpur Shariah Court for rescheduling visitation dates for her children to be with their father. She is now out on RM5,000 bail pending appeal.

This prompted Maria’s comments that Muslim women were still being discriminated under Malaysia’s shariah legal system.

Emilia and Faisal divorced in 2016. She has been granted full custody of their three children, Fawwaz, Faiz and Farhan.

Akberdin claimed that Emilia has never let Faisal take their children out of her house, despite being granted visitation rights in July last year.

“He was supposed to be able to take the children on Friday and return them on Sunday. But he was never allowed to do this, not once, not even for overnight stays let alone a few hours during the day.”

Akberdin said the jail sentence showed the court was serious in its decision that both parties must come to a consensus when it comes to the court order.

“It can’t be unilateral. She can’t just decide things on her own.”

Emilia maintained that she did not deny her ex-husband his visitation rights or go against the court order.