THE Kuala Lumpur High Court has deferred its decision to October over a decade-long constitutional case filed by Sarawakian Jill Ireland over the use of the word “Allah” by Christians.

“The court has adjourned the matter to October 29,” lawyer Lee Heng Seng said outside the courtroom today.

Ireland sought a declaration that her constitutional right to practise her religion was violated by the imposition of a restriction or ban on the import of religious educational materials.

She has been campaigning for Christians’ right to use the word “Allah” since Immigration officials at the then Low-Cost Carrier Terminal in Sepang, Selangor, seized eight Christian CDs from her in May 2008 because they contained the word “Allah” in a Christian context.

After a seven-year legal battle, Ireland was given back the CDs in 2015, but she maintained that the court failed to address her constitutional right as a Christian to use the word.

Justice Nor Bee Ariffin deferred the decision after meeting lawyers in chambers today. Present were Ireland’s lawyer Annou Xavier and deputy public prosecutor Shamsul Bolhassan. 

Xavier said previously a settlement may be reached with the Home Ministry and the government.

The 37-year-old Melanau sought a declaration that native Bumiputera Christians in Sabah and Sarawak have the constitutional right to practise the Christian religion “freely and without hindrance”.

This includes the right to use all religious terminologies in the Malay and Indonesian languages in the same way as when the Borneo states joined Malaya to form Malaysia in 1963.

At the high court hearing last October, government lawyers said Putrajaya’s move to restrict or ban non-Muslim religious educational materials that contained the word “Allah” was permissible under the Printing Presses and Publications Act (PPPA) 1984.

The home minister has discretionary powers under Section 9 (1) of the PPPA on grounds of public order and national security, they said.

They added that a 1986 government directive prohibited the use of the terms “Allah, “Kaabah”, “Solat” and “Baitullah” in non-Muslim publications to prevent misunderstanding between Muslims and non-Muslims, especially in the peninsula. – August 13, 2018.