Malaysian Appellate Court Avoids Deciding On Right To Renounce Islam

The Court of Appeal sitting in Putrajaya, the federal administrative center in Malaysia, has used a technicality to reject a plea by a Muslim convert that she be permitted to renounce Islam and return to the practice of her original Christian faith. Malaysia's Star reports today that, in a 2-1 decision, the appellate court held that the lower court had no jurisdiction over the suit brought by Lim Yoke Khoon because no person by that name exists any longer. Lim changed her name to Noorashikin Lim binti Abdullah after she converted to Islam. This decision allowed the court to avoid passing on the claim by Lim that under Article 11 of Malaysia's Constitution she has the right to renounce Islam.