PUTRAJAYA:The Attorney-General's Chambers (AG) has decided no prosecution will be made regarding the case of 300 Bibles seized by the Selangor religious authorities in January and closed the case.
Attorney-General Tan Abdul Gani Patail, in a statement today, said with regard to the seized bibles, the AG had asked the Selangor Islamic Religious Department (Jais) to take the next course of action in accordance to the law.
He said the decision was derived after the AG reviewed the facts and evidence by taking into account the of the Selangor Non-Islamic Religions (Control of Propagation Among Muslims) Enactment 1988.
"We have decided the confiscated books are not published works under Section 9 (1) (a) Non-Muslim Enactment (Control of Propagation among Muslims), 1988.
"Evidence shows the confiscated books are the Bible in Bahasa Malaysia and the Good News Bible is a collection of books of the Torah, the Psalms and the Gospel which is the fundamental book of the Christians.
"The AG also takes into account the Home Ministry's statement that these books are not controlled by the Ministry and do not involve the issue of national security," he said.
The Bibles, in the Bahasa Malaysia and Iban languages, were reported to have been seized on January 2 from the Bible Society of Malaysia premises in Damansara Kim by Jais as it contained the word Allah.
The usage of the word, which means God in Arabic, is banned among non-Muslims in the state under the state's Non-Islamic Religions (Control of Propagation Amongst Muslims) Enactment 1988.
Jais had stated they were acting under the said state's enactment.
On Selangor Menteri Besar Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim's recent ultimatimum giving the AG one month to respond to a letter from the state exco regarding the seized bibles, Abdul Gani responded by giving an insight what had transpired since Jais presented its investigation papers for the first time on Feb 6.
His office, he said, had given its feedback to Jais to complete the investigation papers and refer them back on Feb 20. Jais referred them back to the AG on Feb 25.
His office had advised Jais to refer to the home Ministry regarding the seized biblesand return the investigation papers back to them, he added.
On June 5, he said, Jais submitted its investigation papers again for the AG's advice and after looking through the evidences and facts, his office had concluded there would be no prosecution and to close the casetoday.
