PETALING JAYA, Aug 2 — Muslim dog trainer Maznah Mohd Yusof, who made headlines recently for her 2010 Aidilfitri dog video, was released from remand on court bond this afternoon.
Her lawyer G. Visvanathan Nair confirmed that a Johor court registrar granted the release under section 118 of the Criminal Procedure Code at 12.20pm, according to The Star Online.
“Maznah will be set free and will be required to present herself if needed in future pertaining to the case.
“If she fails to be present in court, she will have to pay a fine of RM10,000.
“She has now been taken to the police station to retrieve her belongings and should be released soon,” he was quoted as saying by the news portal.
Maznah, famously known as Chetz Yusof, was arrested on Wednesday after her three-year-old video showing her celebrating Aidilfitri with three dogs created a firestorm of protests on the Internet.
She is being investigated under section 4 of the Sedition Act and section 298A of the Penal Code.
Section 298A includes a variety offences, namely causing “disharmony, disunity, or feelings of enmity, hatred or ill-will, or prejudicing, etc., the maintenance of harmony or unity, on grounds of religion.”
If convicted under Section 298A, Maznah, better known as Chetz Yusof, can be sentenced to a jail term of not less than two years and not more than five years.
After the video started making its rounds on the Internet, local news site Mynewshub.com quoted Chetz as saying that she made the video in 2010 to show that dogs are not “haram” (forbidden) as widely believed, and that Muslims could keep canines as pets.
“Dogs are not ‘haram’; if they are wet, just ‘samak’,” she was quoted as saying.
“Samak” is the ritual cleansing performed by Muslims when they come into contact with items considered ritually unclean, of which wet dogs are considered to be by some followers of the faith.
Maznah had also told news site Free Malaysia Today in a 2011 interview that she follows the Shafie school of thought in Islam that does not deem dogs as “haram”, but merely requires believers to cleanse themselves after touching a wet dog.
Maznah’s arrest comes after sex bloggers Alvin Tan and Vivian Lee were charged recently under the Penal Code and Sedition Act, for posting a mock “Selamat Berbuka Puasa” (breaking of fast) greeting on their Facebook page that showed them eating “bak kut teh”, a soupy pork dish. Muslims are prohibited from eating pork.
