Borders outraged by victimisation of its staff

Borders bookstore has condemned the prosecution of its store manager Nik Raina Nik Abdul Aziz by the Federal Territory Islamic Affairs Department (Jawi), claiming that the department has victimised and violated the constitutional and legal rights of Nik Raina.

Yau Su Peng, the chief operating officer of Berjaya Books Sdn Bhd - which owns and operates the Borders bookstore chain in Malaysia, said the company is very disappointed over the prosecution.

Nik Raina, the store manager of Borders bookstore at The Gardens Mall in Mid-Valley City, waschargedyesterday in the Kuala Lumpur Syariah Court for distributing the book ‘Allah, Liberty and Love’ by Canadian author Irshad Manji, which has been banned in Malaysia.

The strongly-worded statement issued last night pointed out that the charge was a result of a raid by Jawi on Borders bookstore at The Gardens Mall on May 23 which seized Manji's books.

But the book had not been banned by the Home Ministry at that point of time, stressed Yau.

“There was also no fatwa nor any form of notification issued by Jawi to Borders. There was no way for Borders to know that Jawi considered the books to be objectionable. 

“We understand that the Home Ministry only gazetted the banning of the Manji books on May 29 and that fact was published on Jun 14.”

He said Berjaya Books has at all times cooperated fully with the authorities and has instructed its employees, both Muslim and non-Muslim, to assist Jawi with its investigations, despite the company not being subject to the jurisdiction of Jawi as it is a non-Muslim entity.

The company has, on June 5, written to both the Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein and Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department for Islamic Affairs Jamil Khir Baharom, seeking their assistance and intervention with regards to Jawi’s action, but has yet to receive any reply from either minister to date.

“The management of Berjaya Books fully supports our employee Nik Raina who has done no more than to perform her duties as a store manager. As store manager, she does not have influence or control over the selection of books in Borders. 

“The seized books were not at the time of seizure declared to be banned by the Home Ministry. Neither did Jawi notify Berjaya Books concerning the seized books,” read the statement.

‘Treated roughly by Jawi personnel’

Yau claimed that Nik Raina has extended full cooperation and compliance with all directives by Jawi, and attended an investigation on May 30 with two other colleagues accompanied by Borders’ appointed lawyer, but they were treated roughly by Jawi personnel and were issued an arrest warrant.

“Jawi also refused to allow legal representation for Nik Raina. We view this as outright victimisation and violation of the constitutional and legal rights of our employees.”

He also revealed that the day after the raid on The Gardens Mall store, Jawi came with members of the media to another store in Bangsar Village 2 to interrogate another Muslim female employee. 

“When informed by the employee that the books have been taken off the shelf as directed and returned to the company’s head office, she was accused of lying. 

“They proceeded to do a physical search of the premises, which did not turn up any of Manji’s books,” said Yau.

He warned that the action of Jawi upon Berjaya Books employees may influence the considerations of corporations when hiring Muslim employees.

“The management of Berjaya Books Sdn Bhd fully supports and will continue to support our employees who may be subject to persecution while performing their assigned duties. This support was demonstrated by the presence of the management team of Borders at the Syariah Court today (Tuesday),” Yau added.

Berjaya Books had on June 18 applied to the High Court of Malaya for a judicial review of the actions of Jawi. 

Both Hishammuddin and Jamil Khir have also been named as respondents in the application for judicial review.

PRESS RELEASE FROM BORDERS


In view of the reports in the press today about an employee of Borders being charged in
the Syariah Court for violation of Syariah laws, Borders is compelled to issue the following
statement.

The management of Berjaya Books Sdn Bhd who own and operate the Borders bookstore
chain in Malaysia is very disappointed that our store manager Nik Raina Nik Abdul Aziz
has today been charged by Jabatan Agama Wilayah Persekutuan (JAWI)  in the Kuala
Lumpur Syariah Court for distributing a book by Canadian author Irshad Manji deemed to
be against the Islamic Law (Hukum Syarak) and banned in Malaysia. The charge was
brought under Section 13(1) of the Syariah Criminal Offences  (Federal Territories)  Act
1997.

Nik Raina was accused by JAWI of contravening the Hukum Syarak by distributing or
selling Irshad Manji’s book entitled  “Allah, Liberty and Love”.  If convicted Nik Raina faces
a RM3,000 fine or a maximum of two years' jail or both.  

The charge follows a raid on the Borders bookstore at The Gardens Mall in Mid Valley City
on 23 May 2012 by JAWI (a unit of the Prime Minister’s Department) which seized books
by Irshad Manji that, at that time, had not been banned by the Kementerian Dalam Negeri
(“KDN”). There was also no fatwa nor any form of notification issued by JAWI to Borders.

There was no way for Borders to know that JAWI considered the books to be
objectionable. We understand that the Home Affairs Ministry only gazetted the banning of
the Irshad Manji books on 29
th
May 2012 and that fact was published on 14 June 2012.

Berjaya Books Sdn Bhd has at all times cooperated fully with the authorities and has
instructed its employees, both Muslim and non-Muslim, to assist JAWI with its
investigations, despite the company not being subject to the jurisdiction of JAWI as it is a
non-Muslim entity.

On 5 June 2012, Berjaya Books Sdn Bhd wrote to both the Minister for Home Affairs,
Dato’ Seri Hishammuddin bin Tun Hussein, and Minister in the Prime Minister’s
Department for Islamic Affairs, Senator Mejar General Dato’ Seri Jamil Khir bin Haji
Baharom, seeking their assistance and intervention with regards to JAWI’s action but has
yet to receive any reply from either Minister to date.

The management of Berjaya Books Sdn Bhd fully supports our employee Nik Raina who
has done no more than to perform her duties as a store manager. As store manager, she
does not have influence or control over the selection of books in Borders. The seized
books were not at the time of seizure declared to be banned by KDN. Neither did JAWI
notify Berjaya Books concerning the seized books.

The day after the raid Jawi  came with members of  the  media to the  Borders store in
Bangsar Village 2 to interrogate another Muslim female employee.  When informed by her
that the books have been taken off the shelf as directed and returned to the  company’s head office, she was accused of lying. They proceeded to do a physical search of the 
premises, which did not turn up any of Irshad Manji’s books.

In full cooperation and compliance with all directives by JAWI, Nik Raina also attended an
investigation on the 30
th
 May  2012  with two other colleagues accompanied by Borders’
appointed lawyer. Instead, they were treated roughly by JAWI personnel and were issued
a Waran Tangkap. JAWI also refused to allow legal representation to Nik Raina. We view
this as outright victimisation and violation of  the  constitutional and  legal rights of our
employees.

In the same vein, the management of Berjaya Books Sdn Bhd fully supports and will
continue to support our employees whom may be subject to persecution while performing
their assigned duties. This support was demonstrated by the presence of the management
team of Borders at the Syariah Court today.

The actions of JAWI upon Berjaya Books employees may influence the considerations of
corporations when hiring Muslim employees.

Berjaya Books Sdn Bhd has on 18 June 2012 also applied to the High Court of Malaya for
a judicial review of the actions of JAWI. The Minister of Home Affairs and the Minister in
the Prime Minister’s Department for Islamic Affairs have also been named as respondents
in the application for judicial review.