As for the full articles of (1), (2), and (3), please refer to my previous postings dated 25 December 2007 (http://d.hatena.ne.jp/itunalily2/20071225) and 17 January 2008 (http://d.hatena.ne.jp/itunalily2/20080117) respectively. (Lily)
Malaysiakini (http://www.malaysiakini.com)
(1) Sabah church sues PM over book ban, 24 December 2007
by Soon Li Tsin
A Sabah church has sued the government and Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi in his capacity as internal security minister for not allowing the import of Christian literature containing the word 'Allah'.
(2) Sabah church lawsuit against PM postponed, 27 December 2007
by Khairil Zhafri
A Sabah church's lawsuit against Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and the government for banning the importation of Christian children books from Indonesia has been postponed to Jan 15 next year.
(3) Sabah church lawsuit postponed again, 16 January 2008
by Fauwaz Abdul Aziz
The Kuala Lumpur High Court today set Jan 29 to hear a leave application by the Sabah Sidang Injil Borneo (SIB) Church and its president to review the government's seizure last August of Christian children's books on grounds that they contained the word 'Allah'.
(4) SIB seeks divine intervention over 'Allah', 12 January 2010
by Yip Ai Tsin
A senior pastor of Sidang Injil Borneo (SIB) has advised Christians to pray and 'allow God to intervene' in the tussle over the use of the word 'Allah'.
(5) Bid for amicable end to another 'Allah' dispute, 13 January 2010
by Yip Ai Tsin
The Kuala Lumpur High Court has set Feb 4 for mention of another dispute over the use 'Allah', this time involving Sunday school books confiscated from Sidang Injil Borneo (SIB) Sabah.
(6) New judge to hear Sidang Injil Borneo's 'Allah' case, 4 March 2010
The judicial review application by Sidang Injil Borneo (SIB) for the use of the word 'Allah' in its Bahasa Malaysia publication, brought specifically from Indonesia for its congregants, will now be heard before a new judge tomorrow.
Justice Aziah Ali, from the Special Powers and Appellate division of the Kuala Lumpur High Court, will now preside over the case, replacing former judge Abdul Kadir Musa.
Abdul Kadir, who presided the case earlier had wanted the matter to be settled out of court.
Aziah, is expected to preside over the case management of the 2007 case, and possibly fix a hearing date.
This case although filed in 2007, will rekindle sensitive religious issues.
This follows an earlier controversial High Court verdict on Dec 31, where it declared the ban on the usage of 'Allah' in the Herald magazine owned by the Catholic Church was illegal.
The lifting of the ban which is still pending appeal, had triggered a spate of arson attacks on churches and other places including mosques, suraus, a convent school and Gurdwaras.
SIB, an evangelical group formed in 1928 is one of the biggest churches in East Malaysia, and has made its presence felt in the Peninsular due to the migration of Sabahan and Sarawakian Christians.
The SIB filed a suit against then Home Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, and the government, for not allowing the import of Christian literature from Indonesia, containing the word 'Allah'.
Another CD seizure case pending
Sabah SIB president pastor Jerry Dusing filed the suit on Dec 10, 2007, when the import of six school education book titles were banned after the Customs Department seized the consignment of materials on the grounds that the publications contained words exclusive to Islam.
The words in contention are 'Allah' (God), 'Baitullah' (House of God), 'Solat' (prayer) and 'Kaabah' (The Sacred House).
Apart from the SIB case, there is also another pending case before the Kuala Lumpur High Court, involving the seizure of religious compact discs (CDs) which also use the word 'Allah', from Jakarta in 2008 by Sarawakian Jill Ireland Lawrence Bill.
Jill, who is from the indigenous Melanau tribe, is challenging that seizure, and is seeking a court order for the return of the confiscated CDs.
The case is set for mention on March 15.
(7) SIB 'Allah' suit: Judge seeks amicable solution, 5 March 2010
A hearing date for the judicial review application by Sidang Injil Borneo (SIB) to import religious literature from Indonesia containing the word 'Allah' will be decided on April 30.
The date for case management was fixed by Kuala Lumpur High Court (Special Powers and Appellate division) judge Aziah Ali today. Justice Aziah recently took over the case from judge Abdul Kadir Musa.
The case was brought in 2007 by SIB - an evangelical group formed in 1928 and one of the biggest churches in East Malaysia - after the Home Ministry banned its import of Christian literature from Indonesia.
According to the authorities, the literature contained words exclusive to Muslims. The words in contention are 'Allah' (God), 'Baitullah' (House of God), 'Solat' (Prayer) and 'Kaabah' (The Sacred House).
Speaking to reporters later, SIB's lawyer Bobby Chew said Aziah wanted to give both parties more time to work out a possible out-of-court settlement in the three-year dispute.
"If no solution is reached, a hearing date would be fixed on April 30," he said.
Chew said SIB had sent a letter to the Home Ministry to inform it of its application to settle the matter, but had yet to get a reply.
Today was fixed for the case management for both parties to inform the judge on the development of the case.
Christian books seized
On Dec 10, 2007, SIB and its president pastor Jerry Dusing filed leave application for a judicial review against the Home Ministry
and the government, after failing to get the ministry to lift a ban on the import of the Christian books from Indonesia.
They are seeking a declaration that they had the constitutional right to use he word 'Allah' in all their religious publications and practices, and not just ithin the church.
SIB also sought a court order to quash the Home Ministry's decision to efuse the import of four titles and withhold delivery of two more titles mpounded under the Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984.
In 2007, Royal Customs and Excise Department officers had confiscated at the L International Airport low-cost carrier terminal (LCCT) eight religious books rought in by the church for its Sunday classes for children.
The ministry, which controls the department, had claimed that the books ontained the word 'Allah' which was barred from use by non-Muslims, and seized hem to prevent confusing Muslims.
Dusing said the books were teaching reference material meant only for hristian consumption and would not be used to preach to Muslims, as the ministry appeared to imply.
There is worry that the outcome of the SIB case will stoke religious sentiments similar to that seen after the High Court handed out the judgment on Catholic weekly The Herald.
In December, The Herald succeeded in its application to overturn the Home Minister's decision to ban it from using the word 'Allah' in its Bahasa edition.
This sparked outrage among Muslim groups. Several house of worships, mostly Churches, were desecrated and subject of arson attempts. The government is appealing against the High Court decision.
(End)
