Decision on banned Kg Medan book put off - Malaysiakini

The Kuala Lumpur High Court today postponed to Feb 12 its decision on the application for a judicial review by author K Arumugam over the government's move to ban his book.

The Tamil-language book, entitled March 8, is based on research and eyewitness accounts of the racial clashes which rocked Kampung Medan in 2001, leaving six dead and more than 90 injured.

Judge wants more info

One of Arumugam's counsels, Joanne Leong told reporters that the reason for the delay is that the judge Justice Mohamad Ariff Md Yusoff wanted further information before deciding.

"This is in light of the recent decision by the same judge who lifted the home minister's ban on another book 'Muslim Women and the Challenges of Islamic Extremism'," she said.

Because of the recent case development, Leong said the judge has given them more time to file for further submissions.

March 8 was among the 50 books banned by the authorities in 2007

Among others banned are the Indonesian translation of Charles Darwin's Origin of Species and Karen Armstrong's The Battle for God: Fundamentalism in Judaism, Christianity and Islam.