Zaid: Only ‘lousy unthinking Muslims’ challenging Islam

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 18 — Braving religious fire, Datuk Zaid Ibrahim has censured Islamic supremacists for their inflexible stance towards non-Muslims by declaring on Twitter that “lousy unthinking Muslims” are undermining the creed of peace. The former minister lashed out at one-time Umno colleague, Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, after the home minister told non-Muslims…

Authorities too keen to see insult, says rights group

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 16 – Freedom of speech may not be absolute but its limits cannot be so low that all manner of perceived insults to religion bring the full brunt of authority on transgressors, human rights and law reform group Lawyers for Liberty said today. Expressing “extreme concern” today about the “escalating religious intolerance”…

Taliban bertapak di Malaysia ekoran isu surau Buddha komen melampau, kata Perkasa

Pertubuhan Pribumi Perkasa Malaysia (Perkasa) percaya komen yang dibuat NGO hak asasi dan reformasi undang-undang, Lawyers For Liberty (LFL)menyamakan tindakan pihak berkuasa Johor seperti pihak Taliban sengaja dilakukan bagi menyemarakkan api kemarahan umat Islam. Menyelar komen itu sebagai melampau, Timbalan Presidennya, Datuk Abd Rahman Bakar, berkata ia jelas dilakukan pihak yang mempunyai agenda tertentu. “Perkasa…

Kebiadaban, keceluparan LFL

Kebiadaban dan keceluparan pihak tertentu dalam mengulas kejadian berkaitan dengan umat Islam dan orang Melayu semakin ketara. Ia terbukti apabila sebuah lagi pertubuhan bukan kerajaan (NGO) memperlekehkan tindakan tegas polis dan Majlis Agama Islam Johor (MAIJ) berhubung isu surau di sebuah resort di Sedili, Kota Tinggi yang digunakan oleh bukan Islam untuk upacara keagamaan mereka…

‘Resolve conversion issue once and for all’

PETALING JAYA (Aug 13, 2013): The government has to come up with a concrete solution to deal with disputes over the conversion of children as court rulings will not achieve anything in the long run, civil society groups said. They were commenting on reports that the Ipoh government, Perak Islamic Religious Department, and the Registrar…

Soon-to-go Sedition Act still being used

PETALING JAYA (Aug 13, 2013): For a law that is supposed to be on its way out, the Sedition Act 1948 is still actively used, most recently on a Facebook user who allegedly insulted police, on top of a slew of other cases that saw internet users, politicians and NGO members being hauled up by…

Panel not the solution, say pundits

PETALING JAYA (Aug 12, 2013): Handing preventive detention powers to a panel rather than a minister will not make any difference, legal activists said today in response to Home Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi’s legal reform suggestion quoted in a Malay daily on Sunday. Malaysian Centre for Constitutionalism and Human Rights coordinator Edmund Bon…

Suaram leader quizzed over dinner to raise funds

PETALING JAYA: Police have recorded a statement from Suaram leader Cynthia Gabriel in an investigation under the Sedition Act over a fund-raising dinner it held two weeks ago. Cynthia came to the Petaling Jaya police headquarters at around 3pm yesterday with her lawyers – Latheefa Koya and Derek Fernandez – as well as a small…

‘Jakim has no power to question Chetz’

PETALING JAYA: Lawyers of dog trainer Maznah ‘Chetz’ Yusof said Islamic Development Department (Jakim) has no authority to question her. “Jakim has no legal authority whatsoever to order Chetz to explain the video or attend before them,” said the lawyers. “It is shocking that despite our repeated protests, Jakim has jumped the gun by stating…

Lay off, lawyers for Muslim dog handler warn Jakim

Lawyers for the Muslim dog handler have expressed shock at what Jakim had to say about the controversy, calling it “unlawful”. Yesterday, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Jamil Khir Baharom announced that Jakim has found that the YouTube clip of Maznah Mohd Yusof and her three dogs which went viral online was…

Hare Krishnan charged with murder

KUALA LUMPUR: The fourth suspect, Inspector S Hare Krishnan, was today charged for causing the death of N Dhamendran on May 21. He was charged under section 302 along with section 34 of the Penal Code. Deputy public prosecutor S Nithia informed the court that the prosecution was awaiting for the final post-mortem report which…

Raya dog video: Chetz held in Segamat

KUALA LUMPUR: Dog trainer Maznah Mohd Yusof is now in Segamat and will be remanded till tomorrow afternoon after having spent a night in police lockup here. Her counsel Latheefa Koya, in a text message this morning, said: “She has been brought to Segamat…just spoke to (Investigating Officer) Inspector Othman. “He confirms she (is) currently…

Arrest of dog trainer condemned

KUALA LUMPUR (July 31, 2013): Dog trainer Maznah Mohd Yusof was arrested today over a video clip of herself with dogs that has drawn public anger three years after it was uploaded. She was brought to Bukit Aman’s Commercial Crime Division to have her statement recorded as part of investigations over the video. However, her…

Gerakan supports mom for exposing ‘shower room canteen’

PETALING JAYA (July 31, 2013): Gerakan and Umno are at loggerheads over the issue of whether Guneswari Kelly should be charged with sedition for uploading on Facebook photographs of the “shower room canteen” at her daughter’s school. Selangor Umno liaison committee chairman Datuk Seri Noh Omar’s call for the whistleblower to be brought to book…

33 charged over gathering outside Parliament

KUALA LUMPUR: A group of 33 activists who had gathered outside Parliament on June 24 were charged with illegal assembly at the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court yesterday. They were accused of causing a public nuisance under Section 143 of the Penal Code, and 17 of them were also charged with rioting under Section 147 of…