The
Malaysian Bar cautiously welcomes the announcement earlier this week of
the formation of a “Jawatankuasa Pendengaran” (“the committee”) to
resolve the controversy surrounding the raid undertaken by the Selangor
Islamic Religious Department (“JAIS”) on a multi-faith community
thanksgiving event held at Damansara Utama Methodist Church (“DUMC”) in
Petaling Jaya, Selangor, recently. According to media reports, the
committee will be headed by the Menteri Besar of Selangor, with the
Mufti of Selangor and his deputy as members.
The
formation of the committee is timely, given the unauthorised
publication by certain print media of the personal details of the 12
Muslims who attended the multi-faith thanksgiving event, and who are now
the subject of investigations by JAIS for having possibly committed
offences against the religion of Islam. Further, a draft preliminary
report of the investigations, and a video showing officers of JAIS
questioning organisers of the event and of them entering the function
room, have also been leaked and shown on various blogs.
While
JAIS’s investigations are still ongoing, and thus not yet the subject
of a report to the Sultan of Selangor and the Menteri Besar,
nevertheless how such material came to be made publicly available must
also be probed, as it represents an unacceptable breach of security and
the confidentiality of an ongoing investigation. It has also exposed
the 12 individuals to unwarranted and unwelcomed scrutiny, in total
breach of their right to privacy. This would be a critical element of
the work of the committee. While it is perhaps too early to pinpoint
the source of the leak, the fact that the information has been disclosed
in such a manner suggests that the investigations have been critically
compromised and the information used for partisan political purposes.
This is wholly unprofessional and unethical behaviour, and cannot for a
moment be tolerated by right-thinking people.
We
hope that the committee will also resolve the issue of the proper
jurisdiction of JAIS, which, in show-cause letters issued to the 12
individuals and to DUMC, purportedly relied on provisions in
non-Syariah-based enactments to justify its entry into DUMC’s premises.
This raises serious questions whether JAIS over-reached itself and
exceeded the extent of its authority, and whether its act of incursion
into DUMC lacked proper legal foundation.
Ideally,
membership of the committee should also be extended to include
representatives of non-Muslim religions in Selangor, since it attempts
to resolve a matter that involves the interplay between two religions
and the issues that can arise from it. Such problems require broad
inclusivity and wide consultation.
Ultimately,
this issue raises serious questions about administrative fairness,
bureaucratic neutrality and proper procedures. Justice must not only be
done, but must be seen to be done, in order to assuage the reasonable
concerns of the public with respect to freedom of assembly and freedom
of religion in Malaysia.
Lim Chee Wee
President
Malaysian Bar
No comments:
Post a Comment