A candlelight vigil will be held tonight by various NGOs in solidarity with M Revathi who is being held in an Islamic rehabilitation centre.

The Malaysian Consultative Council of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism and Taoism (MCCBCHST) deputy president A Vaithilingam said the vigil will be held at Dataran Merdeka at 8pm.

"The venue for the vigil is at the base of the flagpole at Dataran Merdeka, where 50 years ago our independence from colonial rule was first proclaimed.

"The venue was intentionally chosen to give Revathi some hope that she too will have freedom soon," he told a press conference in Kuala Lumpur.

On April 18, Revathi, who changed her name from Siti through a letter of admission in 2001, had her 100-day rehabilitation period extended for another 80 days by the Malacca Syariah Court.

Her unregistered marriage with Suresh Veerappan resulted in a child in 2005.

Problems arose days after the child's birth when the Malacca Religious Department (Jaim) officers came to claim the child and she had refused to leave her child.

In January, the Syariah Court ordered Siti to the Akidah Rehabilitation Centre in Ulu Yam, Selangor where she is to be quarantined.

On April 6, it was reported that religious authorities had also seized her 15-month-old baby and the child is now in the custody of Revathi's Muslim mother.

At today's press conference, MCCBCHST legal advisor Leonard Teoh classified the case as an infringement of human rights.

"Under the Malacca Syariah Law, she had been sentenced to 100 days detention, this was extended by another 80 days, a total of six months. All because of her religious belief.

"She was put in detention and separated from her family. This is the human rights angle we are looking at," he said.

Teoh also revealed that upon the expiry of her detention period, Revathi could face a jail term of 36 months and a maximum fine of RM5,000 should she fail to repent.

Note of protest

MCCBCHST also launched a note of protest entitled "Unity Threatened by Continuing Infringements of Religious Freedom".

The note of protest, in the form of a booklet, contains an annexure of a memorandum to the government submitted last year through the National Unity Advisory Panel.

"In a memorandum entitled 'Respect the Right to Profess and Practice One's Religion' dated October 2005, we had set out all these problems and urged the government to make urgent legislative reforms to alleviate these concerns.

"Until today, no such reforms have been made and more and more Malaysians are suffering," said Vaithilingam.

"After much deliberation, it is therefore our considered decision to make public that memorandum and the reforms we had proposed together with our rationale for the same and to disseminate it locally and internationally in order to encourage debate so that we can all jointly seek solutions" he added.

In an question and answer session later, Vaithilingam said there has been no official reply from the government on the memorandum even though discussions have been held.

"I don't know if there has never been any reply but we have discussed the memorandum with Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Maximus Ongkili in October 2005 and the prime minister on Feb 8 this year," he said.

What the rest of the council members had to say:

MCCBCHST vice- president, V Harcharan Singh

Those who converted for whatever reasons mostly for marriage and their profession at that time from one religion to Islam was accepted without question.

When the same person makes a similar declaration under the same Malaysian law, that is not accepted by the very government which has formed that law.

Christian Federation of Malaysia principal secretary, Rev Wong Kim Kong

In general, the Christian community is really dismayed that the majority decision of the highest court has failed to bring a definite solution to interfaith issues.

We are concerned that the third highest institution in the country of the democratic government has abdicated and also failed to be neutral in its assessment of the need.

So therefore, as a religious committee, we appeal to the political master and other religious leaders to play their neutral and just role in such a manner that the unity of the multicultural context will not be threatened.

Malaysia Buddhist Association KL/Selangor branch chairperson, Ming Ji

Buddhist thought is to emphasise on building a compassionate world.

Compassion means equality. If you wish to build an equal society, then you should respect the freedom of professing religion.