Three teenagers were today charged in the Muar Magistrate Court over arson attacks on two surau last month.

The three pleaded not guilty to two separate charges of causing mischief with fire, resulting in damage to the Surau Silaturrahim and Surau Parit Beting on Jan 21.

The trio were charged under Section 436 of the Penal Code and faces a maximum 20 year jail sentence and fine upon conviction. 

Magistrate Lydiana Mansor set bail at RM20,000.

muar surau arson 210110 One of the three suspects was unable to post bail and will be held at juvenile detention facility in Malacca pending trial. 

Among the three, a 16-year-old school dropout, faces an additional charge of lodging a false police report the same day.

He is charged under Section 182 of the Penal Code and faces a maximum six-months jail term or a maximum fine of RM2,000.

The three are believed to be among four people, aged between 16 and 28, arrested on Jan 23.

Among those arrested was a son of a police officer.

According to Bernama , two suspects are 17-year-old and are currently waiting for their SPM examination results.

This incident has been linked to the controversial High Court ruling which overturned the Home Minister’s decision to ban Catholic publication Herald Weekly from using the word ‘Allah’ in its Bahasa Malaysia edition.

Following this, more than a dozen places of worship, mostly churches, have been subject to attempted arson or vandalism in various locations nationwide.