The lawyer acting for HIV support group Harapan Komuniti, Annou Xavier, has thanked Selangor Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah for his recent statement , more than two months after its dinner event was raided by the Selangor Islamic Affairs Department (Jais).

“We thank His Royal Highness for the statement which was very timely as all parties have been anxious,” he said when contacted today.

However, he said that Jais should have conducted its investigation in a more professional manner.

“This also goes to show that an Islamic religious body, such as Jais in this case, ought to have conducted its investigation more professionally as the initial report was surreptitiously leaked to bloggers who had cast aspersions and who had themselves prosecuted the NGO Harapan Komuniti while investigation was still ongoing and before a final report could have been made.”

Annou said all parties should have upheld the principle of innocent until proven guilty.

azlan “I hope in future, all parties concerned will wait for final investigation by any authoritative body, without presuming a party guilty even before investigations are completed.”

Harapan Komuniti became the focus of controversy after Jais raided its dinner event held in a hall in the compound of the Damansara Utama Methodist Church on Aug 3.

Jais claimed that the raid was based on a tip-off that proselytising of Muslims was going on at the event.

However, Haparan Komuniti has denied the allegation, clarifying that it was as a fundraising dinner for AIDS/HIV sufferers.

An investigation was opened in the weeks that followed but Jais’ preliminary report and confiscated evidence, such as photographs of the event’s programme list, were leaked on pro-Umno blogs.

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