Syariah charges against all three children of Ariffin Mohammad, or Ayah Pin, were withdrawn by the Terengganu syariah prosecutor in Besut today.

Khairuddin, 20, Mohd Razlin Shah, 19 and Khairul Nadia, 18, were charged with violating a state fatwa declaring their father's teachings as deviant.

Contacted in Besut today, chief syarie prosecutor Mustafar Hamzah said he exercised his discretion to withdraw the charges but declined to elaborate.

"After consulting my peers, I decided to withdraw the charges against the three for certain reasons, which is within my discretion," he said.

"The matter will be heard in the syariah high court in Kuala Terengganu on Aug 4."

Mustafar said all 22 women followers were released today on bail set at RM2,000 each.

"One of them, Kamariah Ali, 54, will be remanded in prison as she was unrepresented in court. We haven't charged her because we are still conducting investigations," he said.

"If there are sufficient grounds, she may be charged for an admission of renouncing Islam under Section 7 which carries a maximum fine of RM5,000 or three years jail term, or both."

All 44 followers, excluding Kamariah, face charges of violating a state fatwa against Ayah Pin's deviant teachings under Section 10 of the Syariah Criminal Offences Enactment (Takzir) 2001.

The offence carries a maximum fine of RM3,000 or two years jail term, or both.

Charge sheet amended

Of the 23 men, said Mustafar, five were granted bail on grounds of old age and illness while the other 18 will be remanded at the Pengkalan Chepa prison in Kelantan.

"I argued against granting bail for the 18 on the grounds that they may abscond or their presence outside may cause public disorder."

The prosecutor said he had also amended the charge sheet to include the 1997 fatwa.

It is learnt that Ayah Pin followers in other states had raised close to RM50,000 to bail them out.

A syarie lawyer has been appointed by the national legal aid centre and the Bar Council to represent the villagers but could not be contacted today.

Last week, mobsters laid siege on the remote hamlet dubbed as Sky Kingdom armed with dangerous weapons and improvised Molotov cocktails. They threatened to kill anyone who resisted them.

Last week, Terengganu police chief Hussin Ismail warned locals against taking the law into their own hands, saying he will not condone any violation of the country's laws.