By Martin Jalleh
Attorney-General (AG) Abdul Gani Patail want us to believe that he is committed to ensuring that the rule of law is upheld in Bolehland. In his address to members of the Judiciary and the Bar entitled “Opening of the Legal Year 2010”, on 16 Jan., he declared:
“(I)t cannot be over emphasized that the concept of justice is grounded on the basic principles of equality, fairness, and rule of law. The AGC (AG’s Chambers) is committed to promoting the rule of law and ensuring justice be given to all people whatever their race, religion or class. “AGC in carrying out its duties is well aware of the maxim ‘justice should not only be done, but should manifestly and undoubtedly be seen to be done’, and hence the explanations issued by AGC from time to time on cases handled by it so that the public would not have misconceptions of biasness.”
Such purported profound and passionate zeal for the rule of law by the AG turns into mere political BN propaganda when one applies it to his pathetic excuses for not pressing charges against the two reporters of the Al-Islam magazine who had committed a most sacrilegious act against the Catholic community.
Gani’s Gall Under guise of being Catholics they participated in a Mass (church service) at the Church of St. Anthony in Puduraya to “investigate” what was going on in Catholic Churches and to verify reports that “Muslim teenagers were being converted to Christianity in Kuala Lumpur’s churches every Sunday”.
They even partook of the Holy Communion strictly meant only for Catholics, which adherents of the faith treat with utmost reverence. They spat out the remnants, photographed it and published the picture in an article entitled “Tinjaun Al Islam Dalam Gereja: Mencari Kesahihan Remaja Murtad” in the May 2009 issue of the magazine.
Their act shocked not only Christians but also Muslims in the country. Even Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin found their action “appalling” and “offensive”. He added that the “Islamic virtues of empathy, respect and tolerance were obviously absent in both the journalists and the magazine’s editorial team”.
Catholics K Sudhagaran Stanley and Joachim Xavier had lodged a police report in July last year against the two reporters. On 27 Aug. the Catholic Lawyers Society handed a memorandum to the Home Ministry urging it to take action. There was no response. They must have hoped it would eventually be forgotten.
Finally on 24 Feb. this year, about six months after the police report was made, and due to what the Dang Wangi police district headquarters called “overwhelming pressure from the general public”, the police revealed that charges against the two have been dropped.
They were investigated under Section 298A (1) of the Penal Code for causing disharmony, disunity or feelings of enmity, hatred or ill will, or prejudicing the maintenance of harmony or unity, on grounds of religion.
Senior investigating officer ASP Ananthan Rajoo in a letter to the complainants stated that the police had received orders from the deputy public prosecutor (DPP) to whom the case was referred to, to take no further action (NFA).
Gani’s Hype and Hypocrisy
The overwhelming public reaction not only from Catholics but from countless of other Malaysians and even Muslims is that the AG has failed to uphold the rule of law and that what he had pronounced, proclaimed and preached so piously about was mere pretense!
The AG is at fault for the public perception that there are two sets of laws in this country. Reputed lawyer/blogger Art Harun articulated well his disgust over the decision and called it what it really was: “The blatant double standard. The plain hypocrisy of it all. The stupidity.”
Alas, it would be very easy to imagine the speed with which the police and the AG would have sprung into action if two non-Muslim reporters were to enter a mosque disguised as Muslims, partook of the rituals and desecrated something which the congregation considered very sacred.
Surely Gani would apply the full force of the law without any doubt, delay or deliberation. The penalty would be severe. The all-too-familiar mob would be braying for their blood. Lock them up, lash them or even lynch them? Non-Muslims would be threatened with a looming May 13 or Feb.13!
The Malaysian Insider (TMI) captured well the contempt for the AG’s decision: “In the eyes of the Catholic church, the desecration of the communion is an act even worse than the recent firebombing of places of worship.”
“Never before has the exhibition of double standards been so obvious…The irony is this message of hypocrisy comes at a time when the Najib administration is asking for support from non-Muslims.”
In a press conference yesterday Kuala Lumpur Archbishop Murphy Pakiam asked the AG for the rationale behind his decision: “I appeal to the attorney-general to explain the decision not to take further action on the Al-Islam journalists’ case.”
Pakiam pointed out his fear that “the decision not to prosecute appears to legitimise the actions of the Al-Islam journalists”. He added he believed that the Catholic community will be “satisfied” if the journalists and publisher apologise.
Gani’s Gobbledegook
In a faxed response to the press Gani had the gall to say: “The actions of the two reporters may have hurt the feelings of the people but I was satisfied that they did not intend to offend anyone. It was an act of sheer ignorance… the two journalists did not cause any disturbance when they went undercover…”
The Attorney General of Malaysia who turned psychologist and mind-reader has offered all future potential violators of religious harmony and unity the excuses needed to escape from and evade the rule of law. Just appear real stupid and do all the harm you want undercover so that it won’t disturb anybody, and leave the rest to me!
(Whatever their intentions, they had violated Section 298A (1) of the Penal Code for causing disharmony, disunity or feelings of enmity, hatred or ill will, or prejudicing the maintenance of harmony or unity, on grounds of religion.)
Gani went on probably hoping that the public would be as gullible as he expects of them: “Therefore, in view of the circumstances at that particular time and in the interest of justice, peace and harmony, I decided not to press any charges against them.”
Whose “interest”? Whose “justice”? Umno’s brand of justice? How would peace and harmony be disturbed if charges were pressed against the reporters? It appears there is really no rule of law in this country but the mob rules – even in the discerning and decision making process of the Attorney General!
Gani tried very hard to convince himself: “I have previously decided similarly in other cases where the circumstances were quite similar involving other religions, under those circumstances taking serious action would not be in the interest of justice at that particular time.”
TMI again “hit the nail on the AG’s head” when it commented: “Simply put, this man by his statement has shown himself to be incapable of protecting the interest of Christians and non-Muslims in the country.”
“One can only wonder what justice is for the AG, for his actions in the Al-Islam case show he is ‘not in the interest of justice’ in any time or situation.”
TMI also described Gani’s statement as “outrageous at the very least as he was offering protection to a group of people who have not had the decency to apologise for their actions” and that the AG was “condoning vigilantism”.
God is watching, Gani!
Khairy accepted and defended the AG’s decision, for “the decision may have been reached to ‘balance out’ the tensions caused by the issue revolving the use of the word ‘Allah’”. Six months ago he had called the act “unacceptable”! The poor Umno Youth leader must be suffering from an unbalanced mind.
Only politicians feel they have to resort to playing the balancing act. The AG is not a politician and he should not play politics. All he should be concerned about is that the scales of justice are balanced and that there should be fairness to all.
The sheer ignorance “plea” concocted by the AG on behalf of the two reporters is really an insult to the intelligence of the public. This is reinforced by the fact that the magazine which they are working for, Al-Islam, is a monthly magazine published by Utusan Karya Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary of Utusan Group (which is owned by Umno) and which publishes the Utusan Malaysia (UM).
In recent years, the UM has been allowed to go on a spree of spinning falsehood, spouting lies, spewing seditious articles and spreading Umno’s unprecedented racist and religious propaganda with impunity – and immunity granted by the Umno Home Minister. It is very obvious where the reporters of Al-Islam got their audacity from in committing their sacrilegious act!
Khairy was wrong when he said last year that the two journalists failed to consider “the gravity of their own actions”. Gani was wrong when he said they were “sheer “ignorant”. The reporters were right when they knew full well what they were doing and that they could do what they liked, for there would be no consequences – and the AG has confirmed it!
In his maiden speech 1Malaysia, People First Performance Now, the Prime Minister said: “We must reach out to the many who may have been disaffected and left confused by political games, deceit and showmanship”. It is time you stop your games, Gani! God is watching, Gani!
It is wishful thinking (and I hope I will be proven wrong) to expect Al-Islam to apologise, after all, the people behind it come from a superior race, have a religion they believe is superior to all else and are protected by Executive Supremacy! May Allah (oops, I can’t use this word), may God have mercy on our beloved country!