Freedom of expression and religion, not Islam, under siege – Josef Roy Benedict

October 19, 2013

The recent ruling by the Court of Appeal on the Allah case seems to send a message that Islam is under siege in Malaysia and requires greater protection.

This is despite the fact that the judges clearly failed to provide any evidence for these assertions in their judgments.

In reality, however, it is freedom of expression and religion that is facing a clear threat from hardliners within the government as well from right wing organisations such as Perkasa.

The Allah case is just one out of numerous other cases over the last year where we have seen an overzealous regime and their religious apparatus clamp down on various forms of writings, religious beliefs and practices, in violation of their international human rights obligations.

Let me highlight just a few recent examples:

In August last year, a Malay Muslim manager at a Borders bookstore was charged with distributing the book, Allah, Kebebasan dan Cinta, deemed offensive to Islam, even though she was not responsible for selecting the stores inventory.

While a civil court, in March this year, pronounced the Federal Territories Islamic Religious Department, the Home Minister and the Minister in the Prime Ministers Department in charge of Islamic affairs guilty of abusing their powers to illegally prosecute the bookstores manager. But, she continues to face trial in the Syariah High Court.

There are also continued reports of Al-Arqam followers facing arrest and criminalisation for their beliefs.

In October last year, the Selangor Islamic Religious Department (JAIS) raided and arrested 20 individuals at a gathering to celebrate the birthday of the late founder of Al-Arqam.

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Freedom of expression and religion, not Islam, under siege - Josef Roy Benedict