An Ayah Pin follower today pleaded guilty at the Besut lower syariah court to insulting the Terengganu religious authorities by violating a fatwa.

Judge Wan Malik Wan Sidek sentenced Marianna Salim, 22, to a year of religious rehabilitation programmes and observation for good behaviour under the state religious affairs department (JHEAT).

Marianna, from Selangor, was charged under section 10 of the Terengganu Syariah Criminal Offences (Takzir) Enactment 2001.

She could not be reached for an immediate comment.

The remaining 19 followers claimed trial to the same charge. The case has been set for re-mention on Nov 15.

The state fatwa declared Ariffin Mohammad, better known as Ayah Pin, as a deviant and prohibited any kind of involvement with him or his teaching. It also described him as a threat to public order and Islam.

Wan Malik also issued a warrant of arrest for Sulaiman Abu Hassan for failing to show up in court.

Another three in the group claimed trial for an additional charge under section 14(b) for alleged possession of doctrine, documents or recordings said to insult Islam.

Contacted later, chief syariah prosecutor Mustafar Hamzah said one of the three charged for alleged possession of material said to insult Islam was Ayah Pin's fourth wife Nik Kamariah Nik Pa.

The other two are Sulaiman Takrib and Wan Noriah Wan Ali.

The case will be re-mentioned on Dec 6.

Both charges carry a penalty of a maximum fine of RM3,000 or two years imprisonment, or both.

Police bail extended

Police bail for the group has been extended until the respective re-mentioning dates.

The group of 21 followers of Ayah Pin, was arrested on July 2 at the 'Sky Kingdom' commune at Kampung Batu 13, Hulu Besut, following a JHEAT-led raid.

Contacted outside the court in Besut, one of the accused Che Suhadi Jiman said only 14 of the 21 had engaged the services of Terengganu syariah lawyer Abdullah Mohamad, who was today assisted by two colleagues.

"We'll be heading back to the commune after this to visit the villagers who are still living there," he said.

About three-quarters of the commune-dwellers left the village following a series of raids, starting with the one on July 2.

On July 18, a gang of unknown parang-wielding men in ski-masks torched the giant replicas of a teapot, umbrella-shaped tower and a vase, leaving in their wake threats to life and damages to property.

On July 20, another JHEAT-led raid saw 58 followers of Ayah Pin being detained.

Subsequently on July 31, the Besut district council tore down the buildings on the basis that they were illegal structures on agriculture land despite a stay order by the Kuala Terengganu high court pending the disposal of a dispute involving the conversion of land use.

The land office has since denied any knowledge of the court order.

Contempt proceedings

In a related development on Sunday, the owner of the land where the commune sits, Che Minah Remeli, initiated contempt proceedings against Besut district land administrator Wan Zahari Wan Ngah, who is also the district officer.

Che Minah is Ariffin's first wife. Both went missing between July 18 and 20.

Assistant land administrator Mohd Iskandar Muhammad Aziz was named as the second respondent in the leave application to commence committal proceedings filed by Che Minah's neighbour Sulaiman Takrib.

Her son Mazlan reportedly affirmed the supporting affidavit.

This morning, the Kuala Lumpur High Court set a date to hear an application by two self-confessed apostate followers of Ayah Pin, Kamariah Ali and Daud Mamat, for a declaratory release.

Contacted later, their counsel Haris Mohamed Ibrahim said hearing has been fixed for Oct 3.

Kamariah, 54, and Daud, 74, are asking the court to decide if the syariah laws still applied to them since they have renounced Islam.

Both had made a similar application, together with two others including Kamariah's late husband, after renouncing Islam in 1998 via a statutory declaration.

A subsequent appeal to the Federal Court was dismissed in July 2004.

Meanwhile, a habeas corpus application filed by Kamariah on July 27, claiming unlawful arrest and detention following the July 20 raid, was withdrawn on Aug 17 without costs.