All Discussions Tagged 'Zfreespeech' - The 4 Freedoms Library2024-03-28T22:49:20Zhttp://4freedoms.com/group/malaysia/forum/topic/listForTag?tag=Zfreespeech&feed=yes&xn_auth=noThe Imposition of Sharia Law in Malaysiatag:4freedoms.com,2012-06-20:3766518:Topic:1047692012-06-20T12:22:16.811ZJoehttp://4freedoms.com/profile/38DD
<p><a href="http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2012/6/19/nation/20120619130829&sec=nation">http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2012/6/19/nation/20120619130829&sec=nation</a></p>
<h1 id="story_title">Bookstore manager charged with distributing banned book</h1>
<p>KUALA LUMPUR: A store manager of a bookshop was charged in a Syariah High Court here Tuesday for distributing a book by Canadian author Irshad Manji deemed to be against the Islamic Law (Hukum Syarak) and banned…</p>
<p><a href="http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2012/6/19/nation/20120619130829&sec=nation">http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2012/6/19/nation/20120619130829&sec=nation</a></p>
<h1 id="story_title">Bookstore manager charged with distributing banned book</h1>
<p>KUALA LUMPUR: A store manager of a bookshop was charged in a Syariah High Court here Tuesday for distributing a book by Canadian author Irshad Manji deemed to be against the Islamic Law (Hukum Syarak) and banned in Malaysia.</p>
<p><strong>Nik Raina Nik Abdul Aziz, 36, was accused of distributing by way of selling the book entitled, <i>Allah, Liberty and Love (The Courage to Reconcile Faith and Freedom)</i>, which was translated into Bahasa Malaysia.</strong></p>
<p>She was alleged to have committed the offence at Borders bookshop, owned by <span class="knx-annotation"><a rel="foaf:homepage" href="http://archives.thestar.com.my/search/?q=Berjaya%20Books%20Sdn%20Bhd" target="_blank">Berjaya Books Sdn Bhd</a></span>, at level 3, The Gardens Mall in Mid Valley City here, between 8.41am and 9.45pm on May 23 this year.</p>
<p><strong>She faces a RM3,000 fine or a maximum of two years' jail or both under Section 13(1) of the Syariah Criminal Offences Act (Federal Territories) 1997, if convicted.</strong></p>
<p>Chief prosecution of the Federal Territory Ibrahim Deris prosecuted while counsel Rosli Dahlan acted for Nik Raina before Syarie judge Abdul Walid Abu Hassan.</p>
<p>No plea was recorded.</p>
<p>Earlier, Rosli applied to the court that the charge would not be read and no plea would be recorded as there were several issues that needed to be settled.</p>
<p>He added that Nik Raina did not own the bookshop but was only a worker.</p>
<p>Ibrahim said the question whether to read the charge or not was under the court's jurisdiction and not the prosecution.</p>
<p>Judge Abdul Walid then granted bail at RM500 with one surety, pending mention on Sept 19.</p> Absolute Powertag:4freedoms.com,2012-05-22:3766518:Topic:1023822012-05-22T08:38:48.659Zshivahttp://4freedoms.com/profile/shiva
<p><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ax5ZIdFoW1U/SrBuphLzk_I/AAAAAAAAVl4/8XZFC5---kM/s400/sultan-of-brunei-01.jpg" target="_blank"><img class="align-center" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ax5ZIdFoW1U/SrBuphLzk_I/AAAAAAAAVl4/8XZFC5---kM/s400/sultan-of-brunei-01.jpg"></img></a></p>
<p>Brunei Darussalam is a sultanate ruled by the same family for more than 600 years, and it has a population of approximately 428,000. Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah governed under emergency powers that place few limits on his power. </p>
<p>Political authority and control rests entirely with the sultan. A 29-person legislative council (LegCo),…</p>
<p><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ax5ZIdFoW1U/SrBuphLzk_I/AAAAAAAAVl4/8XZFC5---kM/s400/sultan-of-brunei-01.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ax5ZIdFoW1U/SrBuphLzk_I/AAAAAAAAVl4/8XZFC5---kM/s400/sultan-of-brunei-01.jpg" class="align-center"/></a></p>
<p>Brunei Darussalam is a sultanate ruled by the same family for more than 600 years, and it has a population of approximately 428,000. Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah governed under emergency powers that place few limits on his power. </p>
<p>Political authority and control rests entirely with the sultan. A 29-person legislative council (LegCo), which has no independent power and was composed primarily of appointed members, provides a forum for public discussion of proposed government programs as well as administrative deficiencies. It convenes once a year. Council members may be disqualified from service on the basis of various offenses, including disloyalty to the sultan.</p>
<p>Citizens do not have the right to change their government peacefully. The same family has ruled the country for more than 600 years. In 1962 the then sultan invoked an article of the constitution that allowed him to assume emergency powers for two years. These powers have been renewed every two years since 1962. The state of emergency places few limits on the sultan's power. The sultan also serves as prime minister, minister of defense, minister of finance, chancellor of the national university, inspector general of the Royal Brunei Police Force, and head of the Islamic faith.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/2010/eap/154379.htm" target="_blank">Link</a></p>
<p>Restrictions on Religious Freedom</p>
<p>The government continued its restrictions on the religious freedom of non–Muslims. There was no change in the status of respect for religious freedom by the government during the reporting period.</p>
<p>Since the early 1990s, the government has worked to reinforce the legitimacy of the hereditary monarchy and the observance of traditional and Muslim values by promoting a national ideology known as the Melayu Islam Beraja (MIB), or Malay Islamic Monarchy. MIB principles have been adopted as the basis for civic life. All government meetings and ceremonies commenced with a Muslim prayer. When attending citizenship ceremonies, non-Muslims must wear national dress, including Muslim head coverings for men and women.</p>
<p>Despite constitutional provisions providing for religious freedom, the government restricted, to varying degrees, the religious practices of all religious groups other than the Shafi'i school of Sunni Islam. Proselytizing by any group other than the official Shafi'i sect was prohibited. The government placed strict customs controls on the importation of non-Islamic religious texts such as Bibles and Islamic religious teaching materials or scriptures intended for sale or distribution.</p>
<p>Anyone who teaches or promotes any "deviant" beliefs or practices in public may be charged under the Islamic Religious Council Act and punished with three months incarceration and a fine of BND 2,000 ($1,550).</p>
<p>The government routinely censored magazine articles on other faiths, blacking out or removing photographs of crucifixes and other Christian religious symbols. Government officials also restricted the distribution and sale of items that feature photographs of religious symbols.</p>
<p>There were credible reports that agents of the government's internal security department monitored religious services at Christian churches and that senior church members and leaders were under surveillance.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/irf/2010_5/168348.htm" target="_blank">Link</a></p> Malaysian Christians further persecuted over use of word 'God'tag:4freedoms.com,2011-04-01:3766518:Topic:490112011-04-01T03:37:31.006ZAlan Lakehttp://4freedoms.com/profile/AlanLake
<div class="asset-header"><h1 class="asset-name entry-title" id="page-title"><span class="font-size-3">Anglican Bishop of West Malaysia: "there is a systematic and progressive reduction of public space to practice, profess and express our faith"</span></h1>
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<div class="asset-content entry-content"><div class="asset-body"><p id="aeaoofnhgocdbnbeljkmbjdmhbcokfdb-mousedown">Creeping Sharia in action. Islamic law forbids the public expression or propagation of faiths other than Islam. But…</p>
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<div class="asset-header"><h1 id="page-title" class="asset-name entry-title"><span class="font-size-3">Anglican Bishop of West Malaysia: "there is a systematic and progressive reduction of public space to practice, profess and express our faith"</span></h1>
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<div class="asset-content entry-content"><div class="asset-body"><p id="aeaoofnhgocdbnbeljkmbjdmhbcokfdb-mousedown">Creeping Sharia in action. Islamic law forbids the public expression or propagation of faiths other than Islam. But hey, let's try it in the West anyway, and no, <i>really</i>, this time it'll be different.</p>
<p>An update on <a href="http://www.jihadwatch.org/cgi-sys/cgiwrap/br0nc0s/managed-mt/mt-search.cgi?search=Malaysia+Bibles&IncludeBlogs=1&limit=20">this story</a>. "Malaysian Christians say no to discriminatory government slogans on Bible," from <a href="http://www.asianews.it/news-en/Malaysian-Christians-say-no-to-discriminatory-government-slogans-on-Bible-21171.html" target="_blank">AsiaNews</a>, March 31:</p>
<blockquote>Kuala Lumpur (AsiaNews / Agencies) - The Christian Federation of Malaysia has rejected the Government's proposal to release 35 thousand Bibles with “For Christianity” printed on the cover. The books, written in Malay, have been under lock and key since 2009 in the port where they arrived. The government had earlier decided to release them, but wanted to stamp a serial number and the slogan "Only Christians” on the cover. The controversy stems from a government decision to ban the use of the word "Allah" to refer to God by non-Muslims. The judiciary has decided against the government on this point, but a [date] for the appeal hearing has yet to be fixed.</blockquote>
<blockquote>The Malaysian Christians argue that there should be no "restrictions, prohibitions and proscriptions" in the use of the sacred books. The government wants to impose an inscription on the Bible, printed in Indonesia, to reduce the risk of Muslims converting.</blockquote>
<p>Their paranoia makes them look weak.</p>
<blockquote>The Bible Society of Malaysia, which imports and distributes Bibles, took charge of a shipment of five thousand Bibles "defaced" by the government writing on March 28. The general secretary of the company, Simon Wong, said that they "can not be sold to Christian buyers" in their current state. "Instead they will be respectfully kept as museum pieces, a witness of the Christian Churches in Malaysia." The president of the Christian Federation of Malaysia, Bishop Ng Moon Hing, said that "there is a systematic and progressive reduction of public space to practice, profess and express our faith. The freedom to wear and display crosses and other religious symbols, to use religious terms and to build places of worship has been progressively restricted. "</blockquote>
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<div class="asset-meta"><span class="byline">Posted by <span class="vcard author">Marisol</span> on <abbr class="published" title="2011-03-31T08:12:48-08:00">March 31, 2011</abbr></span></div>
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