KUALA LUMPUR: At least two churches were attacked and the judiciary website hacked as Malaysians brace for nationwide protests around noon today against a court ruling on the use of the term “Allah” by Catholic newspaper Herald.
Although police have issued warnings and several Umno leaders, who initially gave tacit approval for the protests organised by Muslim NGOs, have back tracked from their aggressive stand, many Malaysians fear the demonstrations could turn ugly.
Pakatan Rakyat leaders, including Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim, have urged their supporters to stay away from the demonstrations compared to what Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak and Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein have been uttering.
Several church leaders have been calling up their media contacts to find out more details about Thursday’s attack the Metro Tabernacle Church in Desa Melawati as rumours swirled that several other churches were burned.
According to local and foreign media reports, the attack on the Tabernacle church in Kuala Lumpur and the Assumption Church in Petaling Jaya occurred this morning.
The first storey of the building housing the church was firebombed by a group of motorcyclists.
“It is confirmed that Desa Melawati church was burnt, at about 12.25 am in the morning. There were no fatalities. We are investigating the incident and suspect foul play,” said Kuala Lumpur Chief Police Officer Mohammad Sabtu Osman.
It was believed the group of youths on motorcycles rode up to the church, smashed the glass panels on the ground floor of the three-storey building and later threw some materials into the building that started a fire.
Church lay leader Rtd Major Peter Yeow, 62, said witnesses were not near enough to get a closer look at the youths who sped away after the act.
The security guard at the Tabernacle church, 65-year-old V Mariappan, said he had just walked away from the main entrance of the building to use the bathroom when the building erupted in flames.
“When I came back, there was a huge fire inside the church building. There was a few loud explosions like bombs exploding,” he said, adding he saw two motorcycle helmets lying on the road in flames.
The church that was burned was part of a group called “The Assembly of God”. Many churches in Malaysia are situated in residential or retail areas and often occupy a small lot.
The Herald editor Father Lawrence Andrew has warned of a campaign of intimidation including hacker attacks against the weekly’s website, protest plans and widespread criticism in the media over last week’s ruling.
“We believe these actions (are designed) to create a climate of fear and a perceived threat to national security so as to pressure the court in reversing its decision,” he said this week.
More than half of the Catholics in the country are from indigenous groups, most of whom live in Sabah and Sarawak and who mainly speak Bahasa Malaysia.
The hacking of the Malaysian Judiciary’s website was discovered on Thursday night and its homepage substituted with a threat to not pursue the issue of the Catholic weekly the Herald’s use of the word “Allah.”
The hacker, using the handle “Brainwash,” defaced the site with a bright-red headline saying “TakeDown by Brainwash!” and what can only be described as “creative” use of the English language.
Blazed across the page in huge letters was “Mess with the best, die like the rest.”
The hacker also wrote: “Allah only restricted to Muslim only. Dont touch us as we dont touch you. Unless ….”
It was followed by a threatening postscript at the bottom of the page “To the court, Brain know you postponed it but if you wise enough then you should drop it.”
The hacker also posted a picture of a woman, bent over suggestively, apparently “washing” a brain.
Bar Council committee member Edmund Bon has labelled the act as “unwarranted and unacceptable.”
He said hacking and defacing websites was a criminal offence under the Computer Crimes Act 1997.
The comments appear to put undue pressure on the judiciary to decide the case in a certain way and this should not be tolerated in a civil society.
“The Bar Council is all for allowing discussions and criticisms over court decisions so long as they are done in a civil manner. This threat intends to put pressure on the judiciary and it has overstepped the freedom of discussion boundaries,” he said when contacted.
The Herald website has also been hacked three times after the decision by High Court Justice Lau Bee Lan on allowing the word “Allah” to be used in the publication’s Malay-language edition.
Her decision has sparked anger and ire from various Muslim groups. Some groups have even threatened to stage gatherings on Friday to protest against the ruling.
The Home Ministry has appealed the decision and has been granted a stay of execution on Justice Lau’s ruling.
De facto law minister Datuk Seri Nazri Abdul Aziz could not be reached for comment as at press time.
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