The action by Jill Ireland, a Chritstian bumiputera, challenging the Home Ministry's seizure of eight religious CDs from her will be come before the High Court on Oct 26, when it sits to fix the hearing dates.

The matter came up for case management today before deputy registrar Halilah Suboh, who also ordered former Home Minister Syed Hamid Albar to file an affidavit in reply to Jill's application for her lawyers cross-examine him.

Sometime in August, Jill's lawyers applied to cross-examine Syed Hamid on the ministry's action in seizing the CDs.

The CDs were confiscated from Jill at the KL International Airport in 2008, after she flew in from Jakarta, because they had the word "Allah" printed on the covers.

Later, she received a letter from the Home Ministry, stating that the CDs were unlawful and that she had failed to pay customs duty.

The ministry claimed the CDs threatened security as the usage of the prohibited word ("Allah") breached Islamic Development Department (Jakim) guidelines.

Her lawyers want Syed Hamid to "explain" in court the reason for the ministry's action, since he was the minister at the time.

Several declarations sought

Apart from an unspecified sum in damages, Jill is also seeking an order of certiorari to quash the ministry's directive to confiscate the CDs, and their return.

She is also seeking declarations that:

  • She can use the word "Allah", as well as own, use and import materials with the word in exercising her religious freedom because Christians in Sabah and Sarawak have been using "Allah" for centuries;
  • Under Article 11 of the federal constitution, she is allowed to use and import publications to practise her religion; and,
  • There should be no discrimination on issues pertaining to religion under Article 8.
NONE The word "Allah" has been a source of contention among Malaysians, especially after the High Court in Kuala Lumpur on Dec 31 last year declared as illegal the ban by the Home Ministry on the usage of "Allah" in the Catholic Church publication, Herald .

In her written decision, judge Lau Been Lan said, "The Catholic Church comprises a large section of people from Sabah and Sarawak, whose medium of instruction is Bahasa Malaysia, and they have for years used religious material, in which God is referred as 'Allah'.

"There is also a large number of Bahasa Malaysia speaking (Catholics) in Penang and also in Malacca."

Justice Lau ruled that pursuant to Articles 11 and 12 of the federal constitution, Herald had the constitutional right to use the word in respect of instruction and education of the congregation in the Christian religion.

Then, on Jan 6, the same High Court judge granted a stay on lifting of the ban on the usage of the word "Allah" upon the application of the Attorney-General's Chambers. Lawyers for the Catholic Church also agreed with the stay pending an appeal.

The lifting of the ban, which is pending appeal before the Court of Appeal, triggered a spate of arson attacks on churches and other places of worship, including mosques, suraus, a convent school and a Sikh temple.