KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 22 — Wisma Putra told Umno’s Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil today to explain what she meant when she urged the Foreign Ministry to work together “seriously” with other government agencies in resolving the detention of a Malaysian couple in Sweden.

Wisma Putra stressed that its officers have taken their roles in the case of a Tourism Malaysia official and his wife — both of whom were detained on December 18 for allegedly beating their son for not praying — “very seriously” since the first day of the arrest.

“We request clarification — what does YBhg Datuk Seri Shahrizat mean by ‘if the government i.e. Wisma Putra, the Attorney-General Chambers and the Tourism Ministry can work together seriously’?” said Datin Nirvana Jalil Ghani, press secretary to the minister of foreign affairs, in a statement today.

“Since the first day of the arrest, the ministry, through the Embassy of Malaysia in Stockholm, has been fully involved in providing assistance to the accused couple in many different ways and we will continue to work together, as well as liaising with the Swedish authorities to ensure that the rights of the parents and the children are safeguarded,” she added.

Wanita Umno chief Shahrizat was quoted by news portal Astro Awani earlier today as saying: “Non-government organisations and individuals will find it difficult to assist. However, if the government — Wisma Putra, the Attorney General Chambers and the Tourism Ministry — can work together seriously, the matter can be resolved in accordance with the law.”

The four children of Azizul Raheem Awaluddin, a director of Tourism Malaysia based out of Stockholm, and his wife Shalwati Nurshal, who is a schoolteacher on unpaid leave, have since been moved to a non-Muslim foster home.

National newswire Bernama, however, reported last Monday that the Foreign Ministry is attempting to move the children to the custody of a Malaysian Muslim family in Sweden.

The Scandinavian country, in 1979, was the first in the world to prohibit corporal punishment for children, according to a CNN 2011 report.