The Solna District Court in Stockholm today sentenced Azizul Raheem, a Tourism Malaysia officer in Sweden, to 10 months’ imprisonment while his wife Shalwati Norshal was handed 14 months’ jail after the court found them guilty of having assaulted their children last December.

Volunteer Lawyers For All (Sukaguam) chairperson Khairul Anwar Rahmat, when contacted today, confirmed the matter following verification from the movement’s legal representative who was present in court during the sentencing at about 6pm local time (11am Stockholm time).

Khairul said the couple faced jail sentences from six months to six years for their offences but with the decisions today, they were expected to step out from their respective prisons by the end of this year.

Both of them had been placed under remand since Dec 18 following their arrest.

Khairul said Sukaguam would advise the family members of the couple and the government of Malaysia to appeal.

He said under Swedish law, Azizul and Shalwati had three weeks to file their appeal.

Shalwati and Azizul were charged with multiple counts of gross violation of a child’s integrity, by hitting and abusing their children at their residence in Spånga, a Stockholm suburb, between Sept 15, 2010 and Dec 17, 2013.

Shalwati, a teacher on unpaid leave, and her husband had been remanded since Dec 18 last year on suspicion they had hit the hands of one of their sons for not praying.

The couple's four children were initially placed under the care of a Swedish non-Muslim foster family before they were handed over to the Malaysian Embassy in Sweden on Jan 30.

Raheem was alleged to have assaulted the children from Sept 15, 2010 to Dec 17, 2013 at their residence in Sweden.

The children were later brought back to Malaysia. Currently, they are being taken care of by a relative in Kelantan.

Meanwhile, according to a press statement posted on the Solna District Court website, presiding judge Mattias Moller was quoted as saying that the mother (Shalwati) was convicted for gross violation of the integrity of the daughter and the eldest son, as well as for assault on the two younger sons.

The father (Azizul) was convicted for gross violation of the integrity of the eldest son and for assault of the daughter and the second oldest son.

However, he was acquitted of any offence against the youngest son.

Both must also pay damages

Both parents must also pay damages to the children for the crimes.

According to the statement attributed to Moller, violence against the children was relatively minor but the charges under which they were convicted involved systematic and repeated violence.

“Most of the violence has been inflicted with the hands but a cane (rotan) and clothes hanger were used as well.

“The district court considers the children highly credible and their accounts are on the whole reliable and there was nothing to support the idea  hat the children wanted to harm their parents by inventing incorrect information and giving  it to the police,” he said.

The court also pointed out that even though there was no supporting evidence in the form of medical observations, the details given by the children were confirmed by the testimony of prosecution witnesses about what the children confided in them.

- Bernama