A-G says Jais erred in seizing Bibles, orders case closed

By admin-s On Jun 12, 2014

(TMI) – Attorney-General Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail today said the Selangor Islamic Religious Department (Jais) had erred in seizing Bibles from the Bible Society of Malaysia (BSM) and ordered the case closed, bringing an end to a contentious issue, which had dragged on for the past six months.

The A-G also noted that the 321 copies of the Alkitab (Malay Bible) and Bup Kudus (Iban Bibles) were not a threat to national security.

Gani further said in a statement there would be no prosecution and appeared to have ordered Jais to return the seized holy books to the BSM.

“On the issue of the seized Bibles, I expect Jais to do the necessary according to the law,” Gani said.

He said they had reviewed the facts and statements in the investigation papers on the raid and seizure of the holy books.

“We also took into consideration the Non-Islamic Religions (Control of Propagation among Muslims) Enactment 1988.

“In conclusion, it was decided that the seized books did not run afoul of Section 9 (1) of the 1988 Enactment.

“The statements recorded made it quite clear that the seized books are Bibles in the Malay language.

Gani said statements recorded from Home Ministry officials also indicated that the books did not fall under their purview and, thus, did not involve national security.