KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court here yesterday allowed a woman’s application to defer the hearing of the application by the Selangor Islamic Religious Council (MAIS) and Federal Territory Islamic Religious Council (MAIWP) to be intervenors in the judicial review application over eight seized compact discs containing the word ‘Allah’.
Lawyer Mohamed Haniff Khatri Abdulla, representing MAIWP, said the application by Jill Ireland Lawrence Bill was allowed while waiting for the appeal on another case involving the same issue, the Sidang Injil Borneo (Borneo Evangelical Church), at the Court of Appeal. Mohamed Haniff Khatri said MAIS and MAIWP agreed with the postponement and that the court had set Sept 29 for case management.
He was speaking to reporters after the proceeding in chambers before judge Datuk Nor Bee Ariffin. Also present were lawyer Fakhrul Azman Abu Hassan, representing MAIS, and Lim Heng Seng, who acted on behalf of Jill Ireland. MAIS and MAIWP had applied to be intervenors in the judicial review filed by Jill Ireland on Aug 20, 2008 to get back the eight CDs seized, naming the Home Ministry and the Malaysian government as respondents.
On May 11, 2008, the CDs titled ‘Cara Hidup Dalam Kerajaan Allah’, ‘Hidup Benar Dalam Kerajaan Allah’ and ‘Ibadah Yang Benar Dalam Kerajaan Allah’, were seized from Jill Ireland, a Melanau from Sarawak, upon her arrival at the Low-Cost Carrier Terminal (LCCT) in Sepang. The High Court had on July 21, 2014, ordered that the CDs be returned to Jill Ireland but it did not make an order on the declaration applied for by the woman that she had the right to keep, use and import published materials containing the word ‘Allah’.
On June 23, 2015, the Court of Appeal endorsed the High Court’s decision which ordered the Home Ministry to return the seized eight CDs belonging to her after dismissing the appeal by the ministry and Malaysian government against the High Court’s decision.
The Court of Appeal ordered the Home Ministry to return all the CDs within a month from the date of the decision, and also ordered that the declaration sought by Jill Ireland be heard in the High Court.
The High Court will hear the application by MAIS and MAIWP to be intervenors before hearing the Jill Ireland’s application for the declaration. – Bernama