Islamic authority’s appeal against bookstore manager is persecution, says DAP

Borders employee Nik Raina Nik Abdul Aziz (centre) was charged under the Section 13(1) of the Shariah Criminal Offences (Federal Territory) Act for allegedly selling and distributing a book deemed contrary to Islam. – The Malaysian Insider file pic, February 2, 2015.

The federal Islamic authority's appeal to the Federal Court against a Muslim bookstore employee is simply persecution of an innocent person, a DAP lawmaker said today.

It was also a "hopeless case", said Zairil Khir Johari, as Borders employee Nik Raina Nik Abdul Aziz had already been cleared by the High Court and Court of Appeal, which found the actions of the Federal Territories Islamic Affairs Department (Jawi) against her and the bookstore illegal and unconstitutional.

"It does not take a legal genius to know that Jawi’s case is completely baseless. In fact, this conclusion has been corroborated by two court decisions that found the confiscation of the books illegal and unconstitutional.

"Jawi’s Federal Court appeal is nothing more than an act of desperation and a blatant attempt to persecute an innocent individual," the Bukit Bendera MP said.

Urging Jawi to end its "charade", he also said the religious authority should stop wasting funds on a hopeless case.

Jawi had seized copies of "Allah, Liberty and Love" by Muslim writer Irshad Manji, saying that the book was banned although the ban was only enforced after the raid on May 23, 2012.

Nik Raina was charged under the Section 13(1) of the Shariah Criminal Offences (Federal Territory) Act for allegedly selling and distributing a book deemed contrary to Islam. The charge carries a fine of up to RM3,000 or a jail term of up to two years, or both.

But the Court of Appeal in December last year found Jawi's action in raiding the store, seizing the books and charging Nik Raina, unconstitutional as the book had not been banned at the time of its action.

The Court of Appeal's decision supported the High Court's ruling, which had ordered Jawi to withdraw the shariah charge against Nik Raina.

Zairil, who is the party's assistant publicity secretary, said that the case had dragged on for nearly three years, and that Nik Raina would have to continue putting up with unnecessarily legal and emotional anguish despite not having done anything wrong.

In its appeal to the Federal Court, Jawi is seeking clarification as to whether shariah law can be used against “a corporate entity incapable of professing a religion”, and whether action by a religious authority that leads to prosecution in the shariah court can be challenged and reviewed in the civil court.

- TMI