Police to summon Father Lawrence

Selangor police chief Shukri Dahlan, however, says that he will discuss the matter with the Selangor Islamic Religious Council first.

KLANG: The police will record The Herald editor Father Lawrence Andrew’s statement following a report lodged against him for his remarks over the word Allah.

But Selangor Police chief Mohd Shukri Dahlan said they would first discuss the matter with the Selangor Islamic Religious Council (Mais) before taking action.

“The police will summon the priest to record his statement but we have yet to determine the date,” he told reporters today.

Mohd Shukri said such a procedure was part of the information-gathering process in any police investigation after a report has been made.

“I haven’t finalised how many police reports have been made, but it is standard operating procedure that for every report we receive, we will investigate, and this includes reports related to the use of the word Allah,” he said.

The police report was lodged after a news portal reported the priest as saying Christians would continue to use the word Allah in all churches in Selangor.

The statement, made on Dec 27, is rude as it is in violation of a court decision as well as the Sultan Selangor’s decree which forbids non-Muslims in the state from using the word ‘Allah’ as stated in Section 9, Part 1 of the Selangor Non-Islamic Religions (Control of Propagation Among Muslims) Enactment 1988.

Meanwhile, Mohd Shukri expressed disappointment over certain quarters for hurling accusations at the Selangor police force following the arrest of a man who owned a homemade bomb last Tuesday.

“All the information the police released regarding the case of the man arrested with his homemade bomb is true, and no additional information was tacked on,” he said.

After the man’s arrest, the Selangor police’s Facebook page became a target of criticism, with many accusing the police of intentionally provoking the public. Others claimed the bomb had no relation with the planned gathering on the eve of 2014.

Mohd Shukry was attending the appointment of the Klang Selatan district police chief ACP Kamarul Zaman Mamat, replacing ACP Mohamed Mad Yusof who had been appointed Deputy Command of Kuala Lumpur Police Training Centre.

Kamarul Zaman was previously the Assistant Director of Secret Societies, Vice and Gambling Division (D7) Bukit Aman.

-Bernama