The Persecution of Ideas
Marina Mahathir
Folks, you may have heard/read the latest dramatics regarding the arrest of Dr Mohd Asri Zainal Abidin, former Mufti Perlis.
Last night he called me to say that as he was speaking to a group of people at a friend's house in Ampang, a group from JAIS came and wanted to arrest him. They brought along the police but none of them had warrants. The people in the house which included some MPs and lawyers tried to negotiate with the police but eventually around midnight or so, he was taken to the Ulu Kelang Police Station.
But at the station, nothing much was done because it seemed that nobody really knew what the offence was. Eventually they released him 'dengan jaminan' and gave him a document (sorry I don't know the exact terminology) which said that he was being charged under Section 119 of the Selangor Religious Enactment which basically says you can't teach Islam without being certified. He had to appear at the Mahkamah Syariah Gombak this morning at 9am. At the top of the document, the police had hand-written 'Arahan JAIS'.
