Book publisher Faisal Mustaffa was charged in a syariah court today for refusing to cooperate with Selangor Islamic Department (Jais) investigators looking into a banned book of Canadian writer Irshad Manji.

Faisal was charged in Shah Alam, under Section 215 of the Selangor Syariah Criminal Procedure Enactment 2003. If convicted, he can be jailed for up to a year, fined up to RM2,000 or both.

Reached for details on the charge, Faisal denied any wrongdoing, saying he had replied "I will answer this in court" to every question on the book that was posed by the Jais investigators.

"I argued that this was my answer. I went there (to the Jais headquarters) to answer them, but they were not satisfied," he said, adding that he was questioned for two hours today.

Faisal, who runs book publishing company Merpati Jingga Sdn Bhd, will face the charge on Jan 25 at the Shah Alam Syariah Court.

‘I'm a victim of intimidation'

Manji's book, Allah, Liberty and Love , was banned by the Home Ministry on May 24, prompting religious authorities to investigate book publisher ZI Publications Sdn Bhd , which is owned by Ezra Zaid, son of former law minister Zaid Ibrahim.

NONE The authorities claim that the book contains material that goes against Islamic teachings. Manji advocates a liberal interpretation of Islam and is openly lesbian.

A raid on ZI Publications and a subsequent one at a major book retail outlet led investigators to charge Borders bookstore's Mid Valley Megamall branch manager Nik Raina Nik Abdul Aziz and ZI owner Ezra Zaid and carry out a raid on Faisal's house on July 17.

Borders claims that the authorities were attempting to victimise its Muslim staff.

Jais is understood to have confiscated 28 books, consisting of six titles, from Faisal's house.

Faisal said that he was a victim of Jais' harassment and intimidation, claiming that the investigators had initially refused him legal representation when his statements were recorded.

Midnight visits

Eventually, the investigators relented but four officers were present at the time, a move that Faisal said was intended to intimidate him.

"Initially, I had to quarrel with them to allow my lawyer to be present. Then, they had four officers surrounding me. This is part of their intimidation process," he said.

He also claimed that Jais personnel had harassed him by coming to his house past midnight on two occasions to serve him notices to appear for questioning.

"This is ridiculous. They came to give the first notice at 12.15am on Aug 15 and again at 12.32am this morning.

"I asked to explain why they came at this hour today and they said I might not be at home during the day. I told them that they have my contact details and could have called.

"But they said, Ini arahan (It's an order to them)," he said.