Christians ‘extremely disappointed’

The Christian Federation of Malaysia says the ruling was 'critically flawed'.

PETALING JAYA: Christians are “extremely disappointed” with the ruling of the Federal Court in dismissing the Catholic Church’s application for leave to appeal the ban on the use of the word “Allah” in its weekly publication, The Herald.

A Christian group, the Christian Federation of Malaysia (CFM), said the reasoning behind the decision was “critically flawed” in so many respects.

“We  are extremely disappointed. Simple justice would have mandated an appeal, to rectify the many incorrect and inaccurate statements and observations of the Court of Appeal that led to its (Federal Court’s) decision,” said CFM chairman Reverend Eu Hong Seng.

The Federal Court in a majority decision today rejected the application, stating that the Court of Appeal was right in its ruling to ban the word in the Catholic weekly.

(On Dec 31, 2009, the High Court declared that the decision by the Home Ministry in banning The Herald from using the word Allah was illegal, null and void. Subsequently, the Court of Appeal had set aside the High Court’s decision.)

Eu said that serious negative repercussions for the freedom of religion for the Christian community in Malaysia emanated from (all) those statements and observations (on the Allah issue).

“But sadly the Roman Catholic Church has been denied the opportunity of challenging them before our apex court,” he said.

He said that Attorney-General Abdul Gani Patail had previously publicly pointed out in his statement on Oct 20, 2013 that this decision was only with respect to the use of the word “Allah” in The Herald newspaper.

“As legal adviser to the government, we will hold him and the government to that position.”

Eu said that given the refusal of the Federal Court to grant the Catholic Church leave to appeal, “we will in proceeding with our actions and activities” treat the decision of the Court of Appeal as being confined to the specific facts of that particular case.

He added that the Christian community will continue to have the right to use the word “Allah” in “our Bibles, church services and Christian gatherings… in our on-going ministry to our Bahasa Malaysia-speaking congregations…”

Eu noted thate there are several pending cases before the courts that involve this issue.

“We will have to see whether these will provide alternative avenues to uphold and defend freedom of religion and freedom of religious expression in Malaysia.

He urged Christians to remain steadfast in their faith and remain courageous in the face of prolonged adversity.