Court denies Church's strike out bid amid shouts of 'God is Great' from strident Muslim groups

UPDATE4 VIDEOS INSERTED PUTRAJAYA - Muslims groups, some peaceful and some aggressive, gathered outside Malaysia's Court of Appeal where a bid by the Catholic church was being heard.

The Court denied the attempt by the Church to strike out the appeal by Prime Minister Najib Razak's government against a ruling made by the Kuala Lumpur High Court in 2009, that had upheld the right of non-Muslims to use the word 'Allah' to describe God.

"We will accept whatever the decision of the court today but this will not be end of our fight. It will continue but in peaceful means," Nasharuddin Mat Isa, the chairman of Islamic foundation Nassar told Malaysia Chronicle. Nasha is also a senior PAS leader.

However, other Muslim groups milling in the front on the courthouse were less patient.

"Aman (peaceful)? Perang lah (this is war)," yelled one of the crowd in response to a query from Malaysia Chronicle if they would disperse peacefully if the Appellate court ruled in favour of the Church.

Motives of those in "executive power" questioned

Meanwhile, the Christian group was represented by a dozen of so clerics led by Father Lawrence from the Kuala Lumpur archdiocese.

"Our Archbishop has called on all Catholics and Christians to go to the churches to pray this morning. All the churches in KL for example are open from 9 to 12 noon. There is no point in coming here and risk an untoward incident happening," Father Simon Labrooy, one of the priests who came, toldMalaysia Chronicle.

Father Simon questioned why "those in executive power" had not kept to the 10-point agreement announced by Prime Minister Najib Razak as a solution to the problem two years ago.

The priest also queried the motives behind a late statement from former Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein, who had said there was no basis for the Church's bid to strike out the government's appeal.

Hisham is Najib's cousin and the pair have been accused of insincerity in rolling out the 10-point 'solution' as a sop to Christians ahead of the recently-concluded May 5 general election.

"I am wondering if he is trying to influence things. Why jump the gun," said Father Simon.

10-point solution does not include Allah - government argues

Meanwhile, in the court room, senior federal counsel Suzana Atan has submitted that the 10-point solution offered by Najib in 2011 did not cover the use of the term Allah.

"The 10-point solution is limited to the importation and publication of the Bible in Bahasa Malaysia and Bahasa Indonesia," Suzana told a packed courtroom.

"This has been affirmed by former Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein in objecting to the application, who stated that the 10-point solution does not cover the Allah issue. Hence, the appeal by ministry and the government is still a live issue and the 10-point solution does not make it academic."

Suzana also said the 10-point solution did not cover all publications, including the Catholic Church's Herald Weekly, which is the respondent in the matter. Herald which had fought the Home Ministry's ban on the right to use Allah in its Malay-language edition is governed under the Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984, argued Suzana.

Therefore, the Home Ministry could impose conditions to restrict the publications, as the Act covered newspapers and the printing of such article, she submitted.

The strike-out bid is being heard by a three-member panel comprising Justice Abu Samah Nordin, with Justice Abdul Aziz Abdul Rahim and Justice Rohana Yusof.

Apart from the Home Ministry, there are 7 interveners objecting to the strike-out. These comprise 6 state Islamic councils and the Malaysian Chinese Muslim Association. The Islamic councils are from the states of Terengganu, Federal Territory, Johor, Malacca, Kedah and Selangor.

Should the strike-out bid be denied, the appeal proper will be heard on September 10.

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