Court of Appeal throws out JAWI case against Borders
Shane Fuentes, Free Malaysia Today
The Court of Appeal on Tuesday upheld a lower court’s decision that Federal Territory Islamic Religious Department (Jawi) was wrong in raiding and seizing copies of a controversial book, Allah, Liberty and Love, by Canadian writer Irshad Manji, from a Borders bookstore.
Jawi’s actions, deemed illegal and unconstitutional, came before a fatwa banning the book was issued.
A three-man bench, led by Mah Weng Kwai, also held that Jawi’s actions against the Borders store manager, Nik Raina Nik Abdul Aziz, were unconstitutional and illegal and said her arrest and prosecution must be quashed.
“Jawi had acted beyond their powers against Nik Raina (third respondent) and the bookstore,” said Mah.
Human Rights Watch takes JAWI to task on Borders case
The Human Rights Watch (HRW) in New York has criticized JAWI for not respecting the Court and the rule of law involving Nik Raina.
“Censorship in all its forms is ugly and rights violating to start with, but the outrageous and abusive way that JAWI has conducted itself throughout this episode further shows how badly eroded the rule of law has become in Malaysia,” said Phil Robertson, speaking on behalf of HRW. “The fact of the matter is Nik Raina Nik Abdul Aziz should have never been hauled into any court in the first place.”
