B e n s t a k e s

Nine months later, still waiting for action

Ipoh: In a firm stand for justice, the parish of Our Lady of Lourdes Church, Silibin has asked Perak Chief Police Officer Datuk Zulkifli Abdullah why no action was taken over the usage of seditious words and unlawful assembly at the church last Nov 5.

The letter is signed by OLOL parish priest Fr Bernand Paul, on behalf of the parishioners, who have endorsed the follow-up query. It follows a sense of deep unhappiness and dissatisfaction among the people over what they see as police"sweeping things under the carpet".

The apparent double standards practised by the police over the issue, have left many feeling disgusted and cheated of their rights to a peaceful and harmonious environment.

Copies of the letter have been sent to the Bishop of Penang, Bishop Anthony Selvanayagam, Malaysian Consultative Council of Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism and Taoism, (MCCBCHST) Christian Conference of Malaysia (CCM), Christian Federation of Malaysia (FCM), Catholic Lawyers Association of Kuala Lumpur and Penang, and SUHAKAM (Human Rights Commission of Malaysia).

The people are hoping that this time, the police will take some form of action to uphold law and order, and to see that justice is done.

"Justice must be seen to be done. Where there is no justice, there is no peace. As a pastor, I cannot close my eyes. What do I tell them?" said Fr Bernand. The police report lodges by him on Nov 5 last year contained complaints of unlawful assembly and seditious words used.

On that fateful day, OLOL was surrounded by a hostile mass of at least 300 Muslims, who were shouting, swearing and threatening to burn the church, following the spread of false SMSes that Muslims were being baptised at that church.

Today, nine months later, OLOL parishioners and public are still kept waiting for any tangible police action against culprits of the unlawful assembly.

After the police report during which a statement was taken by ASP Tan Gee Soon, a long silence followed. As the months wore on, it was apparent the inaction by the police during the unlawful assembly itself and the quiet pretensions that nothing ever happened, somehow greatly eroded public confidence in the police force.

In June 2007, OLOL sent a letter to the CPO with copies to the Majlis, CFM, Catholic lawyers in Penang and Kuala Lumpur and SUHAKAM.

In July 2007, the CPO's office responded, stating that there was no strong evidence to show the suspects arrested had initiated the spreading of the SMSes. It further stated that the case was now closed, after referring to Attorney-General's chambers.

OLOL's follow-up letter simply states it is disturbed with the conclusion of the police investigations which exonerated parties from any wrong-doing.

It clarified that since the SMS had been forwarded to another, it was clear one or both of them had spread the false news.

The letter further continues: "In any event, it appeared they (the suspects) are the authors of the false news which had proven to be seditious, an offence under section 4(1) of the Sedition Act 1948. The section states that a person commits the offence of sedition if he/she prints, publishes...any seditious publication...shall be guilty of an offence, and section 2 further explains the meaning of the word "seditious".

"Section 3(1)(e) of the Sedition Act, 1948, states: A seditious tendency is a tendency to promote feelings of ill-will and hostility between different races or classes of population of Malaysia."

The unlawful assembly itself cannot be ignored since it was widely reported by the television and print media, and with photographic and audio visual evidence by the police to prove and identify suspects.

The letter adds: "As a matter of fact, your officers were seen negotiating with the unlawful protesters. In the circumstances, we believe the suspects ought to be charged."

Fr Bernand hopes the police will act and reply quickly. One way would be to continue a dialogue with the people and provide an alternative view of the real situation, and discuss issues.

As far as public opinion goes, there is still a deluge of questions waiting to be answered, especially those pertaining to public safety, and why the authorities (in this respect, the police) have seemingly done nothing to uphold and safeguard law and order for the people.

There are apprehensions as to whether justice will prevail in future incidents, if and when they happen. The fear is that since the Nov 5 incident was not acted upon appropriately, transgressors may act even more brazenly in taking the law into their own hands.

SUHAKAM responded recently to OLOL's first letter to the Perak CPO. In a letter dated Aug 17, 2007, its principal assistant secretary of the complaints and Inquiries division, Nurul Hasanah Ahamad Hassain Malim, said the matter was out of its jurisdiction.

for the parishioners of OLOL itself, the incident has brought some changes. Although faced by swollen mass of angry Muslims at the Nov 5 incident, the Catholics were not intimidated and remained steadfastly peaceful, refusing to be instigated. Because of this peaceful stance, there is now no tension amongst the Muslims and Catholics living in the area. But OLOL is now more watchful of what goes on around them.

The Tamil apostalate has since started a media watch group which oversees news items on Christianity, printed in the Tamil and english newspapers. If anything adverse on Christianity appears, they try to take steps to remedy the mistakes/errors in such reports.

Steps are being taken to include the Bahasa Malaysia and Chinese press.

OLOL has also become more aware of its social responsibility to uphold justice in the face of opposition, for the sake of the different communities in which it is esconced in.

The people are kept abreast of developments as Fr Bernand keeps them updated on the progress of the falseSMS issue at each mass.

Source: Transcribed from the Herald, The Catholic Weekly dated 09/09/2007