A former imam who led the marriage of a 14-year-old girl to a man 20 years her senior has been deemed unfit and inappropriate to perform weddings, a court has confirmed.
Ibrahim Omerdic was convicted in 2017 of performing an invalid marriage after a wedding ceremony between a girl and a 34-year-old man in Melbourne.
At the time of the marriage in 2016, he was the Imam of the Bosnia and Herzegovina Islamic Center in Noble Park and authorized under the Marriage Act to perform marriages.
Omerdic was aware as he conducted the ceremony that the girl was not of marriageable age, with official documents suggesting she might have been 14, the Administrative Appeals Tribunal was told.
He thought she was about 17 but accepted that she could have been 15 and at least believed she was “very young”.
Omerdic was deregistered as an authorized wedding celebrant last June after being delisted by the Registrar of Ministers of Religion Victoria.
He fought his removal by applying to the Tribunal for a review of the decision.
Camera icon Former imam Ibrahim Omerdic was not found suitable to perform marriages. Nicole Garmston Credit: News Corp Australia
The AAT upheld the ruling this month, finding it had no remorse or taking responsibility for what it did.
Omerdic argued at the hearing that he had no intention of consummating the marriage and only intended to say a prayer that made it culturally acceptable for the man to accompany the girl in public.
He also claimed that he understood that the couple would not live together until the girl turned 18.
But the Tribunal rejected that evidence.
“I am convinced that in consummating the marriage of Ms. C and Mr. S, the Applicant ran a real risk of engaging in sexual relations, indifferent or recklessly as to the possibility that he … facilitated a sex crime,” AAT Senior Member Chris J. Furnell said in his decision last week.
Omerdic told the Tribunal evidence that as a result of his conviction, couples “now go to Indonesia for nikahs (marriages recognized by Sharia)”.
“None of the imams are now performing Nikah because they are at risk. They risk. They will be caught (sic) like I burned my fingers… So if people want Nikah, they go to Indonesia…” he said.
According to Omerdic, “…a hundred young couples who wanted to get married in Australia canceled and went to another country to do so.”
Camera IconIbrahim Omerdic appealed his case to the Administrative Tribunal but lost. Credit: Included
Mr. Furnell said Omerdic’s statements before the Tribunal and when police questioned him in 2016 were full of “inaccuracies and inconsistencies”.
“Again, this does not speak well of the applicant’s character, honesty, and integrity,” he said.
He also did not find Omerdic, who had been active in the community for more than three decades and had performed more than 1000 marriages, “deeply repentant”.
He was said to have harmed no one and paid a “high price” for a “small” charge.
“He believes he has done little harm and appears to believe that his conviction was obtained through a flawed judicial process influenced by Islamophobia and ignorance of cultural issues,” Furnell said in his decision.
He added that he had also tried to downplay or re-characterize what happened while blaming others for the consequences.
“Under these circumstances, and despite his experience, community contributions, and the comments of several umpires, I am convinced that the applicant is not the right person to perform marriages,” Mr. Furnell said.
