All parties should accept judgment, say Muslims lawyers

PUTRAJAYA: All Malaysians, both Muslims and non-Muslims, should accept the Federal Court's decision denying leave to appeal by the Catholic Weekly, the Herald, over the ban on the use of the word "Allah" in its Bahasa Malaysia section of the publication.
Muslim Lawyers Association president Datuk Zainul Rijal Abu Bakar said the judgment meant the Titular Roman Catholic Archbishop of Kuala Lumpur could not seek an appeal on the matter.
He said the Court of Appeal's judgment in banning the use of the word in the publication, which was made on Oct 15 last year, still stands.
He was speaking to the press at the Palace of Justice's main entrance today where supporters pumped their fists in the air and chanted "Allahhu Akhbar!" (God is Great).
Defence lawyer S. Selvaraja, who represented the applicant, reportedly said it disagreed with the majority judgment delivered by the chief justice but has not decided on what to do next.
Earlier, former Perkasa deputy president Datuk Zulkifli Noordin told the press that the Selangor Islamic Religious Council (MAIS) was justified in keeping the 321 Bahasa Malaysia and Iban language Bibles seized from the Bible Society of Malaysia in January.
He said the Federal Court judgment served to strengthen MAIS's stand with respect to the seized Bibles.
He said based on this decision, it meant the word is exclusive to Muslims.
He was present together with Perkasa president Datuk Ibrahim Ali to lend support to the NGO's stand that the word should only be used by Muslims.
Echoing Zulkifli's opinion, Ibrahim urged all parties to move forward after the decision was made, saying it was for the betterment of both Muslims and non-Muslims.
On PAS's non-presence, he said he was not disappointed because the NGO understood PAS "is purely a political party and its interest is to get votes".