Sultan orders Jais to undo bible seizure issue in court
(Malay Mail Online) – The Sultan of Selangor has instructed the state’s religious authorities to use the courts to settle the imbroglio stemming from its refusal to return over 300 copies of the bible seized from a Christian society in the state.
According to the Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah’s private secretary, Mohamad Munir Bani, the legal avenue would allow the matter to be resolved amicably and without perception of bias.
“The legal procedures pertaining to the disposal of items seized in raids and investigations may be referred to the courts by the public prosecutors to obtain an order either for their return or disposal,” according to a statement from the Sultan as issued by Mohamad Munir.
“The move would be in line with the Attorney-General’s statement that the Selangor Islamic Religious Department (Jais) should take the ‘next step’ in accordance with the law.”
The state Ruler also insisted that he has not acted “above the law” in the matter.
Yesterday, Selangor Islamic Religious Council (Mais) claimed that the Selangor consented to their decision against returning over 300 bibles that the state’s religious authorities seized from a Christian group in January.
Mais and its enforcement unit, the Selangor Islamic Religious Department (Jais), are seeking a court ruling to enable them to dispose of the Christian holy books.
The council has insisted that there are grounds to “prosecute” BSM under the Selangor Non-Islamic Religions (Control of Propagation Among Muslims) Enactment 1988, contrary to Attorney-General (AG) Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail’s decision not to press charges against the Christian bookstore.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak previously urged Mais to refer the matter to the AG if it believed the decision not to prosecute BSM should be reviewed, but insisted that Abdul Gani’s decision on the issue should prevail.
Jais seized the bibles during a raid on the BSM headquarters in the state on January 2, and has kept possession of the copies since then.
