Remember 18-year old Manohara Odelia Pinot, the estranged wife of the Tengku Temenggong of Kelantan Tengku Muhammad Fakhry Petra Sultan Ismail Petra? She has been ordered by the Syariah High Court to “be loyal” to her 31-year old husband (effectively to return to him), and to repay Rm 1,112,250 (approximately US$327,000) owed to him? Now Manohara Odelia Pinot has effectively decided to ignore the Syariah High Court ruling, saying that as an Indonesian citizen, she is not obliged to obey the Malaysian Syariah High Court’s ruling.
Tengku Muhammad Fakhry Petra Sultan Ismail Petra took the yamin istizhar oath on January 3, 2010, which means that Manohara Odelia Pinot has 14 days to “be loyal” (to return) to her husband. This 14-day period will end on January 17, but Tengku Muhammad Fakhry Petra Sultan Ismail Petra need not wait till then to find out if Manohara Odelia Pinot will return to him or not. In a recent interview, Manohara Odelia Pinot has this message for Tengku Muhammad Fakhry Petra Sultan Ismail Petra: “Hello Fakhry, I’m not comeback, I wanna move on. I’m not sorry but goodbye.” With that Manohara Odelia Pinot all but guarantee herself the status of a nusyuz (disobedient) wife. And she had also been ordered by the Syariah High Court to repay the money to her husband.
What does Manohara Odelia Pinot mean by wanting to move on? Probably finding a new love. She said: “My ideal partner would be someone who is close to his family as well as my family.” Is she making progress on this front? Manohara Odelia Pinot said: “Many men want me. But I don’t like any of them.”
But why won’t Manohara Odelia Pinot defend herself in the Syariah Court? She said: “The Kelantan royal family is very influential. The Kota Baru Syariah High Court will not be on my side, even though I am the victim of domestic abuse.”
But Manohara Odelia Pinot’s trouble is not just the Syariah High Court’s ruling against her. Tengku Muhammad Fakhry Petra Sultan Ismail Petra has also sued Manohara Odelia Pinot and her 44-year old mother Daisy Fajarina, for defamation in the civil court, and since they elected not to be present and not to be represented by counsel, default judgement has been entered against both of them.
Yesterday, Tengku Muhammad Fakhry Petra Sultan Ismail Petra was in court to press his claim for Rm 105 million damages against Manohara Odelia Pinot and her mother. In court, Tengku Muhammad Fakhry Petra Sultan Ismail Petra painted a pityful picture of himself. He said: ”Every day I read bad things about me on the Internet, where Malaysians and people from abroad slam me. I could not go out as usual and was forced to live in hiding because I was ashamed. People looked at me differently and out of sheer shame I had no choice but to move out of the palace to a house.”
Then refuting allegations that he had raped, tortured and imprisoned Manohara Odelia Pinot during their 9-month long marriage, Tengku Muhammad Fakhry Petra Sultan Ismail Petra said: “My family, palace officials, workers and friends can testify to our close relationship. Never at any time did she tell any one of them that she had been abused.”
Then claiming to suffer from depression, Tengku Muhammad Fakhry Petra Sultan Ismail Petra said: “Certain quarters felt I was not suitable to carry out official palace duties while others thought I did not deserve to hold the title of Tengku Temenggong.”
Indeed last year, the Regent of Kelantan removed Tengku Muhammad Fakhry Petra Sultan Ismail Petra from membership of Kelantan Succession Council. The Regent, Tengku Muhammad Faris, also appointed 5 others to the Kelantan Succession Council. The Regent is first in line to the Kelantan throne should the current sultan die. Second in line is the Tengku Bendahara. If for any reason neither the Regent nor the Tengku Bendahara is confirmed as the new sultan, then next in line will be the Tengku Temenggong, who is Tengku Muhammad Fakhry Petra Sultan Ismail Petra.
In December last year, Tengku Muhammad Fakhry Petra Sultan Ismail Petra filed an application for judicial review of his removal from the Kelantan Succession Council and the removal of the 5 newly appointed members. He argued that allowing the Regent to alter the composition of the Kelantan Succession Council effectively granted him the ability to create a tribunal that would determine his fitness to succeed to the throne.
But Tengku Muhammad Fakhry was late in filing his case, and now the court is going to hear both parties before deciding whether Tengku Muhammad Fakhry Petra Sultan Ismail Petra could have extra time to file.
The Regent, Tengku Muhammad Faris is arguing that appointment and revocation of members of the Kelantan Succession Council is his prerogative which cannot be adjudicated by the court. He will give his arguement on this issue to the court on Fanuary 27.
Related posts
Malaysia – Update On Manohara “Be Loyal” Case
Manohara’s Mother A Fujitive
Malaysia – High Court Ruled Manohara And Mother Defamed Husband
Manohara To Ignore Syariah Court Order To Be Loyal To Husband
Malaysia – Syariah Court To Manohara: “Be Loyal”
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