Sabah church’s case on hold until courts decide bid to declassify ‘Allah’ ban

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 21 — A Sabah church’s lawsuit to seek declarations over its rights to use the word “Allah” is now paused until the end of the church’s legal bid, to compel the federal government to reveal why it had banned the Arabic word for “God” in Christian publications.

Sidang Injil Borneo’s (SIB) lawyer Tan Hooi Ping said the church had on December 13 filed for a stay of proceedings at the Kuala Lumpur High Court, noting that the government’s lawyers today did not object to this application.

“[Deputy registrar] recorded consent order for a stay in the High Court proceedings until disposal of the Applicant’s appeal on the discovery application,” she told Malay Mail after case management today before High Court deputy registrar Norazlin Othman.

The lawsuit was filed by SIB and its president Rev Datuk Jerry Dusing on December 10, 2007 against the home minister and government, with the judicial review hearing on the former’s constitutional rights yet to be heard.

The initial hearing date of December 29 for the Sabah church’s lawsuit has now been vacated, with the case to come up for case management on February 7 for the High Court to be updated on the status of the church’s appeal on the reasons for the “Allah” ban.

SIB Sabah had last December filed a discovery application to seek two sets of documents that would explain the government’s 1986 ban of the word “Allah” in Christian publications — including documents that could prove confusion among Malaysians or threat to public order over such use of the word “Allah”; and documents showing the government’s approval to import and own Christian publications with the word “Allah”.

SIB had previously said the documents were necessary to help the courts decide on the church’s lawsuit, while the church’s lawyer Lim Heng Seng had also highlighted the Home Ministry’s citing its original 1986 ban to justify the 2007 seizure of the church’s Christian education materials.

But the High Court on October 16 rejected the church’s bid for the discovery of the government information on the 1986 “Allah” word ban which it said was classified under the Official Secrets Act 1972, leading to SIB’s filing on November 14 an appeal against this decision.

Tan today said no hearing date has been fixed at the Court of Appeal for the SIB church’s appeal on the discovery application.

The next case management for this appeal will be on February 6, she said.

The court case was sparked off by the August 15, 2007 seizure of SIB Sabah’s Sunday school materials at the Low Cost Carrier Terminal airport in Sepang, with the education materials for Christian children then returned on January 28, 2008 under the condition that the front page would be stamped with a “cross” sign and the words “ Christian publication”.

The church and Dusing are seeking a recognition of their rights — including a declaration that it is their constitutional right to use the word “Allah” in Bahasa Malaysia or Bahasa Indonesia translations of the bible and in religious materials to instruct their children in their religion, in line with the right to freedom of religion and right to education under the Federal Constitution’s Article 11 and Article 12.