THE Freedom Fund has started a RM75,000 campaign to help fight a shariah court case involving Muslim scholar Dr Ahmad Farouk Musa and the recent Home Ministry ban on his books.

The fund, which has aided government critics in the past, is collecting donations to pay for three of Farouk’s cases. They are:

* His charge under Section 43 of the Syariah Offences Act (Federal Territories) 1993 for abetting Turkish author Mustafa Akyol in giving a talk related to Islam without proper accreditation;

* A judicial review on the constitutionality of charging Farouk for the above offence; and,

* A judicial review to challenge the ministry’s latest ban on a list of books that includes two volumes of essays edited by Farouk, who is also director of the Islamic Renaissance Front (IRF) think tank.

Dr Wong Chin Huat, one of the fund’s board members, said the cost of preparing the paperwork for the three cases was estimated at RM70,000.

In addition, the fund is also collecting RM5,000 to pay the fine if Farouk is found guilty in the shariah court case.

The two lawyers who would represent Farouk – Rosli Dahlan and Khoo Guan Huat – would do so on a pro bono basis, said Wong.

“Charging Farouk under shariah law for abetting in organising intellectual discourses at a university is an attempt to control our thoughts,” he said at a press conference.

“It is also a violation of our rights under the Federal Constitution to freedom of speech and expression… These judicial reviews will be for the good of all Malaysians.”

Farouk has been told by the Federal Territories Religious Department (Jawi) to present himself at the Kuala Lumpur Shariah Court on December 4 to answer the charge of abetting Mustafa.

The charge, under Section 43 of the Syariah Offences Act (Federal Territories) 1993, carries a fine of not more than RM5,000 or a jail term of not more than three years, or both, upon conviction.

Mustafa was the keynote speaker at an IRF-organised forum titled “Does Freedom of Conscience Open the Floodgates to Apostasy?” on September 24.

He was detained by Jawi and probed under Section 11 of the same act for allegedly teaching about Islam without proper accreditation.

Academics and lawyers have questioned Jawi’s reasons for probing Mustafa and Farouk.

They argue that the provision is aimed at teachers of Islamic religious classes in mosques and schools, not academics and speakers in intellectual forums.

A day after Farouk was questioned by Jawi, the ministry banned two of IRF’s books – Wacana Pemikiran Reformis (Jilid I) (A Discourse on Reformist Thought, Volume I) and Wacana Pemikiran Reformis (Jilid II) (A Discourse on Reformist Thought, Volume II).

Law professor Dr Azmi Sharom, who was at the press conference, said the language of the law used by the religious authority was very broad.

“(The law) gives a government agency extensively broad powers to control any discussion related to Islam. This can hinder intellectual discussion.” – October 9, 2017.