The police have been called to explain why Perak mufti Harussani Zakaria has not been slapped with a sedition charge with the same speed as in the case of Catholic priest Father Lawrence Andrew.

                

DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang today said that this was "double standards" in the handling of the two cases when the mufti's statements deserved to be classified as sedition.

"There is no doubt that swift and drastic action would have been taken against Father Lawrence if he had said anything about spilling blood, but the same urgency is absent in the Harussani case," lamented Lim in a statement after a press conference in Labis.

"The police have recommended that Father Lawrence - the editor of The Herald - be charged with sedition, but the police must explain why it has not made a similar recommendation for the prosecution of Harussani," he added.

Inspector-general of police (IGP) Khalid Abu Bakar yesterday disclosed that the police have already taken a statement from the mufti for saying that it was permissible to spill the blood of those who protested in the New Year's Eve anti-price hike rally.

This was in response to a public outcry over the government's apparent silence over the mufti's condemnation of the over 10,000 who descended upon Dataran Merdeka to express their anger at the numerous price hikes inflicted upon the people.

Silence on cops’ next steps

    

However, Khalid did not disclose when the statement was taken and what the police's next step was.

In comparison, police promptly initiated a sedition probe against Father Lawrence for saying that the Catholics in Selangor will continue to use the word 'Allah' in their Malay prayers.

On Thursday, just hours after the police said their investigations had been completed and submitted to the Attorney-General’s Chambers, the investigation papers were returned , forcing the police to continue the probe.

Government action over the 'Allah' issue has notably been one-sided, for example no probe has ever been initiated against Perkasa chief Ibrahim Ali ( right ) for urging that the Malay-language Bible containing the word 'Allah’ be burned .

"Attorney-general Abdul Gani Patail said today that no decision has been made on the sedition investigation against Father Lawrence.

"Would he inquire of the police as to what has happened to its investigation against Harussani?" said Lim.

He added that the police, the attorney-general and the whole administration of justice must not only be fair, but must be seen to be fair.