PUTRAJAYA: The “Allah” controversy will once again take the spotlight when the Court of Appeal decides today the appeal by a Sarawakian Christian on her right to practise her faith freely.

A loss for Jill Ireland would mark another setback for Christians after last January’s ruling by the Federal Court on the Catholic weekly Herald’s right to use the word Arabic word in its Bahasa Malaysia publication.

Annou Xavier, who leads the charge in Ireland’s case, said Putrajaya should show its commitment to Christians by respecting their constitutional right to practise their faith. He said Putrajaya had lost the opportunity to do so in the Herald case when “they chose to appeal all the way to the Federal Court”.

As such, he said the Jill Ireland case presents a “second chance” for the government to prove its commitment.

“This is now a second chance for them to have a meaningful engagement with the Christian community,” said Annou.

The case revolves around the action of Home Ministry officials seizing CDs belonging to Ireland at the low-cost carrier terminal in Sepang in 2008. The CDs, which she had bought for personal use, had titles such as Cara Hidup Dalam Kerajaan Allah, Hidup Benar Dalam Kerajaan Allah and Ibadah Yang Benar Dalam Kerajaan Allah.

In August the same year, Ireland filed for a judicial review of the ministry’s action and the return of the CDs. She had also asked for a declaration that she has the right to use “Allah” and to continue to own and import such materials.

In July last year, High Court Judge Datuk Zaleha Yusoff ordered that the CDs be returned and ruled that only the home minister and not any senior officer had the power to issue binding or permanent seizure orders on any material deemed as a threat to public order.

Putrajaya appealed against the ruling and applied for a stay of the High Court order on the return of the CDs. Ireland filed a cross appeal against the High Court’s decision which had failed to address the issue of her constitutional right to use the word “Allah” as the court had only ordered that the confiscated CDs be returned.

Annou said in the event the decision did not go their way, a leave for appeal would automatically be filed as the question of the constitutional right of Christians remains unanswered.

Annou said the decision could go three ways. The appellate court could dismiss both appeals, or allow one of the appeals, or allow both appeals to go through in part.

According to a draft standard operating procedure unveiled last May by Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Tan Sri Joseph Kurup to Christian leaders in Sabah and Sarawak and to the Christian Federation of Malaysia, publications with the word “Allah” cannot be imported into Peninsular Malaysia, and if brought in can only pass through with Sabah or Sarawak as their final destinations.

“There is really no need for this as our right to manage our own religions affairs is clearly stated in Article 11 of the Federal Constitution.” Annou said. — The Malaysian Insider

This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on June 23, 2015.