KUALA LUMPUR: Borders Malaysia has demanded that store manager Nik Raina Nik Abdul Aziz be freed from further persecution by religious authorities, a day before she is to appear in the Shariah Court for allegedly selling and distributing a book contrary to Islamic laws.

In a statement, Borders said that the charge was groundless as both the High Court and the Court of Appeal ruled that the 2012 raid on the bookstore had been wrongful and illegal.

“The management of Berjaya Books Sdn Bhd, as the owner of Borders Bookstores, calls for an end and a closure to the criminal proceedings against Nik Raina.

“It has been three years since Nik Raina lost her absolute freedom to become a person under bail. It has been three years that Nik Raina has had to endure adversity in her life, including being looked upon with suspicion by Muslims,” it said.

The Shariah Court fixed the criminal proceedings for mention tomorrow. Nik Raina was charged under Section 13 (1) of the Shariah Criminal Offences (Federal Territories) Act 1997.

Borders said the Shariah Court should exercise its judicial discretion under Section 96 (g) of the Shariah Criminal Procedure (Federal Territories) Act 1997 to discharge her.

It said the Federal Territories Islamic Religious Department (Jawi) had not filed a motion for leave to appeal to the Federal Court after the decision made by the Court of Appeal last year.

“Even if Jawi wishes to preserve its position, there is no basis either for Jawi or the Shariah Court to postpone this matter any further.

“At the very least, Nik Raina should be released by way of a discharge not amounting to an acquittal. In that matter, Nik Raina’s freedom and personal liberty can be duly restored and neither Jawi nor anyone will suffer any prejudice.”

On Dec 30 last year, the Court of Appeal decided that Jawi was wrong in raiding and seizing copies of the controversial book Allah, Liberty and Love by Irshad Manji from a Borders bookstore, upholding a lower court’s decision.

The book was seized before an edict banning it was issued and Jawi’s actions were deemed illegal and unconstitutional.

A three-man bench, led by Datuk Mah Weng Kwai, also held that Jawi’s actions against Nik Raina were unconstitutional and illegal, and said her arrest and prosecution must be quashed. The three respondents in the case were Berjaya Books, Borders assistant general manager of operations and merchandising Stephen Fung, and Nik Raina.

The appeal was filed by Jawi, the Home Minister and the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department in charge of Islamic religious affairs, Datuk Seri Jamil Khir Baharom.

The parties were appealing against the Kuala Lumpur High Court’s decision to allow Berjaya Books’ judicial review to quash Jawi’s actions in seizing Irshad Manji’s books from the bookstore.

On May 23, 2012, Jawi conducted a raid at the bookstore and subsequently Nik Raina was accused by the religious authority of breaching the hukum syarak by distributing or selling the book Allah, Liberty and Love.

When Jawi conducted the raid, the book had not been banned and Nik Raina was not responsible for the buying and stocking of books and merchandise in Borders stores. — The Malaysian Insider

This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on February 25, 2015.