Judge jails Malaysia lawmaker for polygamy

The Jakarta Post, The Associated Press, Kuala Lumpur | Wed, 05/19/2010 2:42 PM

An Islamic judge sentenced a prominent government lawmaker to a month in jail Wednesday for entering a polygamous marriage without official consent.

Muslim men can marry up to four wives under Malaysia's Islamic law, though polygamy is not widely practiced among the country's roughly 20 million Muslims, and the marriages must be registered in an Islamic Shariah court.

Bung Mokhtar Radin, a member of Parliament for the National Front ruling coalition, was sentenced for marrying a second wife in December without seeking the Shariah court's consent first.

Shariah Court Judge Wan Mahyuddin Wan Muhammad said the jail term was necessary to warn people to respect Islamic Shariah law and take marriage regulations seriously. He said Bung Mokhtar was a well-known political figure who should try to be a role model.

The court in Malaysia's central Selangor state allowed Bung Mokhtar to postpone serving the sentence until his appeal is heard in a higher court.

The 50-year-old lawmaker pleaded guilty last month to the offense, which carries a maximum penalty of six months in prison and a fine of 1,000 ringgit ($300).

Bung Mokhtar's wife, Zizie Ezette, a 31-year-old actress, was also fined 1,000 ringgit ($300) for the same offense. The judge did not explain why he imposed a lesser sentence on her.

Bung is one of the government's most outspoken lawmakers, but he has often been criticized by opposition leaders for inappropriate remarks. He was forced to apologize in 2007 for making sexist comments about a female opposition lawmaker's menstrual cycle and has also been accused of insulting disabled people.