Malaysian politician escapes jail for practicing polygamy
By ANIWednesday, August 11, 2010
LONDON - A Malaysian politician has escaped going to jail for entering a polygamous marriage without official consent.
Lawyer Amli Embong said an Islamic High Court ruled jailing Parliamentarian Bung Mokhtar Radin was too harsh, the Daily Express reports.
Instead, the court outside Kuala Lumpur allowed him to pay the maximum fine of 1,000 ringgit (300 US dollars).
Bung Mokhtar, a politician of the ruling coalition, was sentenced in May to a month in jail for marrying a second wife without court permission.
The court imposed the jail sentence to set an example and warn people to respect Islamic law and take marriage seriously, the Daily Express reports.
Muslim men can marry up to four wives in Malaysia, where two-thirds of the population follows Islam. But polygamy is not widespread and needs Islamic court permission. (ANI)
