Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Mohd Nazri Abdul Aziz said that the authorities in Sarawak should not have withheld 30,000 copies of the Bible in Malay language.

Met at his office in Parliament today, Nazri said unlike West Malaysia, East Malaysia does not have state laws which bars the holy book.

NONE Nazri, who is the de facto law minister, said that in West Malaysia, except Penang and Federal Territories, all states have laws which prohibits the use of ‘Allah’ and 24 other terms in any publication or printed matter that are not Islamic in nature.

Asked why the Bible in Sarawak were detained in the first place, he professed that he himself is in the dark.

"I don’t know. It shouldn’t have been (like this). To me la because there are no laws there in Sabah and Sarawak, no enactment. In Peninsula Malaysia cannot. Because there is an enactment," he said.

"The bibles in Sarawak shouldn't have been confiscated," he said, but stressed that the 5,100 copies of the same holy book held by customs at Port Klang were in violation of the law.

"To me if you allow the bible in port klang to be released, then what you are doing is against the law because these are Indonesian bibles and I know for sure they use the word Allah as a reference to God, which is against the enactments in the Peninsula states except for Penang and Federal Territories," argued Nazri.

Conflicting statements to be clarified Friday

Nazri clarified that his decision is not prejudiced in any way, but is in accord with his reading of the law.

"I’m not talking about what I think, I’m saying what the laws are in the states... Well you have laws and how can you go against them? These are all laws you know, it’s not just a practise," he reasoned.

Nazri warned that the laws cannot be compromised nor questioned even if some in the Christian community are unhappy with it.

"You cannot use sentiments and say ‘oh certain Christian groups are jittery and unhappy’. That doesn’t mean you can break the law," said the minister.

He reasoned that even the federal government can't override the law, especially since this particular concerns Islam which is under the exclusive purview of the state.

"So when it comes to this, the state Islamic enactments are the laws that should govern this issue. You cannot in one instance follow the law and if it doesn’t suit you, you don’t follow the law," reminded Nazri.

Quiized about the recent conflicting comments by the home minister that the Bibles were not released because it may be subjudice to a pending court case and the attorney-general's dismissal of any relation between the bibles and the ongoing government appeal against the use of the word "Allah", Nazri said he was "confused" himself.

"This Friday (I'll find out during cabinet meeting). I want to know because I read the statement from (Home Minister) Hishammuddin (Hussein) saying that the bibles were not released due to a pending court case so it’s subjudice.

“And then the AG made a statement saying it’s not subjudice so I don’t understand," said Nazri, adding that the cabinet shall meet to resolve the issue this Friday.

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