Turkish author released after being quizzed by Jawi

Turkish journalist and author Mustafa Akyol, who was detained last night at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA), has been released after being questioned by the Kuala Lumpur Islamic Religous Department (Jawi).

Jawi director Abdul Aziz Jusoh, in a statement today, confirmed that Mustafa was released this afternoon.

Abdul Aziz said Jawi's action was in response to a public complaint against Mustafa for his talk at a discussion session titled "Does Freedom of Conscience Open the Floodgate to Apostasy?" at the Royal Selangor Golf Club last Sunday.

"Mustafa was arrested at KLIA on Sept 25 based on an arrest warrant issued by the police and produced by Jawi to record his statement.

"He was freed at 12am after Jawi enforcers completed the investigation and were satisfied that the organiser did not inform him on the necessity to apply a permit from religious authorities for the purpose of teaching about Islam in the country," he said.

Abdul Aziz said Jawi had summoned Mustafa to give his statement prior to his arrest, but the latter failed to show up.

Subsequently, Jawi applied for an arrest warrant against Mustafa from the Kuala Lumpur Syariah Court in order to complete its investigation.

Mustafa was detained by immigration and later handed over to Jawi officials.

The Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) had also visited Mustafa during his detention. This was confirmed on the commission's official Twitter account.

Mustafa was invited by the Islamic Renaissance Front (IRF) to speak at the discussion session.

He was also scheduled to speak at a forum entitled "The Islamic Jesus: The Commonalities Between Judaism, Christianity and Islam" yesterday. However, the event was cancelled on Jawi's direction.

Abdul Aziz advised organisers of public forums on Islam to ensure that they obtain a permit.

He said failure to do so was an offence under Section 11 of the Syariah Criminal Offences (Federal Territories) Act 1997, which carries a fine of up to RM5,000, or imprisonment of up to three years, or both.

Meanwhile, DAP national political education director Liew Chin Tong expressed concern about Mustafa's detention.

“It is a black eye for Malaysia when the government detained such a renowned writer who was cordially invited to our country to share his views on democracy, freedom and peace.

“His detention has proven that Malaysia has an 'illiberal government', a similar sentiment that Mustafa has voiced out in many of his writings about 'illiberal democracy', which he described as a system where elections are held but civil liberties such as freedom of speech are curtailed," said Liew.

Liew, who is also chairperson of the think tank Research for Social Advancement (Refsa), had played host to Mustafa at another forum titled "Is Democracy Still Relevant?"

Mustafa is a world-renowned columnist for many international news outlets, including the New York Times, Washington Post and The Guardian.

In another statement, Lawyers for Liberty executive director Eric Paulsen called Mustafa's detention "unwarranted."

"His arrest is shocking and unacceptable, to say the least, as his views are well-known and well-documented, and there is nothing to suggest they are a threat to national security, public order or so out of bounds of democratic norms that they become criminal in nature.

"Instead, the authorities in a show of force like other authoritarian states like China, Turkey and Egypt have detained this respected intellectual.

"Such high-handed behaviour, unfortunately, sends a chilling message to civil society and in particular to intellectuals, whether Malaysians or international visitors that they should watch what they say, or else they may invite retaliation," he said.

Paulsen stressed that freedom of speech is an indispensable component in any modern and democratic society.- Mkini