The couple have been held since December 18th, 2013. Screenshot: Facebook
Malaysians charged in Sweden for hitting kids
Published: 10 Feb 2014 12:01 GMT+01:00
Updated: 10 Feb 2014 12:01 GMT+01:00
Updated: 10 Feb 2014 12:01 GMT+01:00
A
Malaysian couple accused of hitting their children in Sweden have been
formally indicted in a case that has caused outrage back in Malaysia. If
convicted, they face up to ten years in prison.
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- Malaysian fury after slap parents are held (01 Feb 14)
- Malaysians arrested for hitting kids in Sweden (23 Jan 14)
The parents were arrested in December
after being accused of hitting their children for not performing their
prayers. They have been since been held on remand while their four
children were taken by social services.
On
Monday, the prosecutor filed charges of gross violation of their
children's integrity (grov fridskränkning) and for assault.
"In my judgement, the information provided by the children via remote
video interrogation is trustworthy," prosecutor Anna Arnell said in a
statement.
"Together with other
accompanying proof, such as witnesses and items that have been seized
from the home, there are good grounds for the indictment."
The news came as a welcome relief to the mother of the children, who
has struggled with life in a remand centre as the investigation
proceeded.
"My client is relieved that the
prosecutor has finally brought charges, as she will now be able to prove
her innocence," Kristofer Stahre, the mother's defence lawyer, told The
Local.
"She has been waiting a long time
for this, it's been a tough time for her in jail, but now she is seeing
the light at the end of the tunnel."
The trial is set to begin on February 18th and is expected to last ten days.
"It's difficult to speculate what will happen, but of course I hope my
client will be freed. She hasn't done any of the things of which she's
been accused," Stahre added.
The couple has
lived in Sweden for three years. The father, Azizul Raheem Awalludin,
works for Tourism Malaysia in Stockholm and has worked for his country's
tourism ministry since 2000. His wife, Shalwati Nurshal, is a secondary
school teacher on unpaid leave. The Swedish foreign ministry said
neither Awalludin nor Nurshal are registered as diplomats, leading
prosecutors to conclude that diplomatic immunity does not apply in the
case.
The case has stirred a heated reaction
in Malaysia, where the four children were returned in early February. A
Facebook group lobbying for the parents' return to Malaysia has almost
20,000 followers, and many took to Twitter to share their outrage
alongside the hashtag #SwedenLetThemGo.
Kristofer Stahre has said the situation was the result of a "clash of cultures".
Sweden was the first country in the world to outlaw corporal punishment
back in 1979. In Muslim-majority Malaysia, corporal punishment is
allowed in schools.
The case is not the first time a diplomat from abroad has got caught on the wrong side of the saw. In 2011, an Italian politician was convicted for assaulting his son during a Stockholm holiday, in a case that stirred heated debate in Sweden and Italy.
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