Latest seizure proves ‘Allah’ verdict affects Sabah, Sarawak Christians too, DAP MP says

By admin-s Last updated Oct 31, 2014

“The confiscation… once again shows that the Christians in Sabah and Sarawak have no assurance that bibles … will not be confiscated by the federal authorities as a result of the Court of Appeal ruling “

(Malay Mail Online) – The latest seizure of hundreds of Christian books and CDs at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (klia2) shows that last year’s court ruling on the “Allah” issue affects Christians nationwide, DAP lawmaker Dr Ong Kian Ming said.

The Serdang MP said with the seizure, Putrajaya’s repeated assurance that the ruling only applies to Catholic weekly The Herald and that the federal Cabinet’s 2011 10-point solution protects Christians in east Malaysia from the ban on the use of “Allah” has proven to be “completely undependable and unreliable”.

“The confiscation… once again shows that the Christians in Sabah and Sarawak have no assurance that bibles printed in Indonesia and imported to Malaysia through KLIA or any other airport will not be confiscated by the federal authorities as a result of the Court of Appeal ruling on the use of the word Allah as ‘not being an integral part’ of the Christian faith,” he said in a statement here.

The confiscation also shows Putrajaya’s “failure” to uphold the constitutional right of Malaysian Christians to freedom of religion, as stipulated in Article 11(1) of the country’s highest law, he said.

“It also shows the failure of the federal government in trying to keep up the pretence of having an inconsistent promise of ‘one country, two systems’… when it comes to something as fundamental as our constitutional rights to practice our religion freely,” Ong said.

Sources confirmed with Malay Mail Online yesterday that hundreds of Christian compact discs (CDs) and books containing the word “Allah” were confiscated at the Kuala Lumpur International 2 airport in Sepang last Saturday.

The items were believed to be the personal belongings of a Christian man who had brought them in from Medan, Indonesia, and was on his way back to Sabah where he resides.