PKR Mas Gading lodges police report against MAIS

By Simon Peter

KUCHING, June 16, 2014: Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) Mas Gading today lodged  a police report against Majlis Agama Islam Selangor (MAIS) chairman Mohamad Adzib Isa for refusing to return about 300 Malay and Iban languages Bibles to the Bible Society of Malaysia (BSM).

The report was lodged by the chairperson Willy Boniface Tumek at the Sungai Maong police station here.

Sarawak PKR vice chairman See Chee How and other branch officials accompanied Willy to lodge the report.

Reading a statement to the press, the branch secretary Francis Teron said that Adzib  has now gone on record and said the Bible should not be returned and that action should be taken against BSM.

He said PKR is greatly concerned by the latest developments in Malaya which have dismayed many Malaysians since 2009 -  the Bibles seized by Jabatan Agama Islam Seangor (JAIS) and two interfaith child custody cases in Seremban.

On June 11, Attorney-General Abdul Gani Patail announced that the case of the Bibles seized from the premise of the BSM by JAIS is closed and that there would not be any prosecution on the case.

Teron said Christians and all right-minded Malaysians expected him to do the next logical thing - to give a clear and specific order to JAIS to release the Bibles to the BSM.

"Instead he was reported to have made the following very vague statement "I expected JAIS to do the necessary according to the law".

"There were fears then that the Attorney General’s statement would be regarded by JAIS as perfunctory and they will not act to return the Bibles to BSM.

"Malaysian Christians were keenly aware that the statement made by the Attorney General may well foreshadow unexpected and unwelcome new developments in the case.

"They remembered the government’s 10-Points Resolution which was not honoured. The Christians however hung on to the statement from Selangor’s Menteri Besar Khalid Ibrahim who was reported as having ordered JAIS to release the seized Bibles.

"Adzid  has now gone on record and said the Bibles should not be returned and that action should be taken against the BSM.

"He went on to say that the Selangor state government has no jurisdiction over MAIS, effectively saying MAIS is above the Selangor state government and above the AG chambers which is entrusted to decide whether or not a criminal charge is preferred.

"On the same day, the Inspector-General of Police, Khalid Abu Bakar made a statement in which he said that the police will not carry out the order of the High Court of Ipoh and the High Court of Seremban, two orders arising from child custody battles between two Hindu mothers and their respective former husbands who had converted to Islam.

"We are concerned that the national head of our police force had knowingly and publicly chosen to ignore two orders from two high courts when the only acceptable course of action would have been for the police to carry out the orders.

"By doing that, the two Hindu mothers referred to – M. Indira Ghandi and S. Deepa were denied justice by the very branch of the government that has as its primary duty the enforcement  and the upholding of law and order in the country.

"We are afraid that the IGP’s decision not to carry out the two high courts’ orders will send out the wrong signals to the Malaysians at large: that it is alright to ignore the law when you feel that the law has caused you inconveniences or when you feel that it is against your personal convictions.

"Equally frightening is the possibility of a serious loss in confidence in the judiciary among Malaysians, not to mention among foreign investors.

The continuing refusal of the IGP to execute the courts’ orders tantamount to the IGP refusing to recognise the authority and the dignity of the courts and the judiciary and is in the ordinary sense a contempt of court.

"The courts of law in any judicial system should be symbols of the magnificent embodiment of justice and the basis for the administration of justice under the system.

On June 14, Malaysians were once again given a rude an unpleasant reminder when Nancy Shukri, minister in the prime minister’s department announced that the cabinet had decided that enforcement agencies like the police will act to enforce courts’ findings in interfaith child custody disputes only after feuding parents have exhausted all legal processes made available to them in the courts.

"She had earlier, on June 5, said that the police should take the necessary action to return S.Deepa’s son in compliance with the court’s orders.

"The courts and the judiciary now looked like they have been compromised and rendered impotent.

"A loss of respect for the police combined with a loss of confidence in the judiciary and the rapid loss of faith in the prime minister’s office can only mean bad news for Malaysia.

"The Attorney-General must put his foot down now and in no uncertain terms tell MAIS/JAIS and the IGP that they are not above him and the courts.

"The bibles must be released to BSM without further delay and the civil court’s orders to return the child of S.Deepa and M. Indira Ghandi to their respective custody must be given effect immediately failing which action must be taken against JAIS/MAIS and the IGP be made to resign.

"Above all, PM Najib cannot continue to remain silent on these very sensitive issues especially when it has become obvious that there are government agencies who regard themselves as above the government and the laws of the country," Teron said.