Christian lodges police report over Pembela threats

A man today lodged a police report against NGO Muslim Organisations in Defence of Islam (Pembela) for allegedly threatening his safety as a Christian.

According to Annou Xavier, who lodged the report in Petaling Jaya, Selangor, at 3.05pm today, he felt threatened by a statement made by the NGO on Friday.

"I have decided to lodge a report as an individual, a Christian and a Malaysian who feels threatened by this situation of threats of bloodshed.

"Their statements are seditious and highly provocative (and could) disrupt peace and lead to hatred and contempt for Christians and among peace-loving citizens of Malaysia, including our Muslim brothers and sisters, Sikhs, Taoists etc," Xavier said when contacted.

On Friday, about 30 Pembela members were reported by online news portalThe Malaysian Insider as saying they would not hesitate to shed blood against extremist Christians out to challenge the sovereignty of Islam.

This followed Putrajaya's 10-point solution to the row over the Al Kitab, the Bible in the Malay language, which Pembela said was too much of a concession.

Meanwhile, eight NGOs said in a statement in support of Xavier that they were "saddened" by Pembela's actions and "urged Malaysians not to further provoke or incite hatred towards other fellow Malaysians or (those of) different faiths".

The NGOs are All Women's Action Society Malaysia (Awam), Council of Churches of Malaysia Youth (CCM Youth), Civil Rights Committee of Kuala Lumpur and Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall (CRC-KLSCAH), Islamic Renaissance Front (IRF), LLG Cultural Development Centre, Malaysia Youth and Students Democratic Movement (Dema), Persatuan Kesedaran Komuniti Selangor (Empower) and Suara Rakyat Malaysia (Suaram).

"(We) support the act of a concerned citizen in lodging a police report... so as to protect and preserve the rights and liberty of every citizen from all religious beliefs in this nation.

"(We) hope that this would prevent any further intimidation and threats of violence to be uttered against one another in public spaces," the statement by the civil society groups said.

VIDEO | 6.22 mins