Deputy Agriculture and Food Industries Minister Che Abdullah Mat Nawi said he will not hesitate to take legal action against those who try to embarrass him over his latest marriage.
Che Abdullah, who is also Tumpat MP, claimed that people online were trying to “humiliate” him and disrespect his family after a video of him appearing to tie the knot over the phone spread on social media. He has also apologized for getting married via Thailand’s Islamic Council.
“This marriage involves personal and family privacy which should not be made public. I first apologise if this has offended any party,” he told reporters during a work visit at a paddy field in Pasir Salak today.
“However, issues like this (sharing on social media) should not happen. It seems that the intention was to humiliate or bring down the dignity of my family or perhaps disrupt my work,” he said.
The deputy minister said he has handed the matter over to his lawyer and expressed hopes that the public would respect his and his family’s privacy. Che Abdullah is already married to his wife Saleha Yaacob and they have eight children together.
“This issue does not affect the work that has been entrusted to me as deputy agriculture and food industries minister and as an MP,” he was quoted as saying in a local news report.
Che Abdullah’s reaction comes days after a Twitter thread surfaced containing a video of him purportedly on the phone with a marriage official while two witnesses sat across from him.
A close-up photo of the alleged marriage certificate dated June 1 showed that the marriage was approved by the Islamic Council of Narathiwat Province in Thailand. A part of the bride’s name was redacted from the document, showing only the words “Nur Fariesh.”
The Narathiwat Islamic Council in Thailand had said that it was investigating a marriage solemnization ceremony that was conducted online and had involved the deputy minister, according to a Sunday report, which also quoted an official saying that the council never approved “online solemnization ceremonies.”
Muslim men in Malaysia are known to marry secretly in Thailand in order to bypass local shariah laws, which require subsequent marriages to be validated by the court. The Sisters in Islam civil society group last year highlighted the loophole in the law, which allows Thai-registered marriages to be registered in Malaysia without going through the courts.
Selamat Pengantin Baru. Tahiniah YB! pic.twitter.com/a2DpfhDtRj
— Zack Rockstar (@zack_rockstar) July 3, 2021
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