Ezra Zaid must face Syariah Court, rules apex court
After almost one year, Ezra Zaid will have to face the charge of publishing the Bahasa Malaysia version of the banned book Allah, Liberty and Love which was deemed against the tenets of Islam at the Selangor Syariah Court.
This follows the Federal Court ruling today that Section 16 of the Selangor Syariah Offences Enactment is valid.
Justice Mohd Raus Sharif said that in a unanimous decision, the court decided that the section did not go against Article 10 for freedom of expression.
"It had to be read harmoniously with Article 3(1) on Islam as the religion of the federation, Article 74 (2) regarding Ninth Schedule powers of the state to enact state laws, and Article 121 (1) (a) on the Syariah Courts.
"With this we dismiss the appeal," he said.
In the present case, the Federal Court said the purpose of the Selangor state legislative assembly to enact Section 16 is clear and that is to control religious publications which are contrary to Islam.
“It is also a measure to prohibit the dissemination of any wrongful belief and teaching among Muslims, through the publication of any book or document or any form of record containing anything which is contrary to Islamic law,” said Justice Raus.
What is contrary to Islamic law, the judge said, is without a doubt against the precepts of Islam and hence the Selangor assembly was acting within its legislative power in enacting the impugned section.
Based on this, Justice Raus said that they found the impugned section enacted by the Selangor assemly fell within this scope of the precepts of Islam.
“It is not a matter included in the Federal list and the punishment imposed is within the limit set by Section 2 of the Syariah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act 1965.
"For the above reasons, we hold the impugned section (16) by the Selangor state legislativ
e assembly is valid and is not against the constitution. With this we dismiss the petition," he said.
In conclusion, Justice Raus in his 16-page judgment wrote that Muslims are not only subjected to laws enacted by Parliament but also to state laws enacted by the state legislature.
“This is because the constitution allows the state legislature to enact offences against the precepts of Islam.
“Taking the Federal Constitution as a whole, it is clear that it was the intention of the framers of the constitution to allow Muslims in this country to be also governed by Islamic personal law.
“Thus a Muslim in this country is therefore subjected to both the general laws enacted by Parliament and also the state laws enacted by the legislature of the state,” he said.
'Disappointing' decision
The judgment was delivered today, after the court heard submissions on the matter last Oct 9 after which the panel reserved judgment.
The other judges sitting with Justice Raus were Chief Judge of Malaya Zulkefli Ahmad Makinudin and Federal Court judges Abdull Hamid Embong, Ahmad Ma'arop and Abu Samah Nordin.
Ezra when met outside court said he is disappointed with the decision and dreaded the impact of the case on the transgender case.
He said it is a sad day for human rights and freedom of expression.
"The next case management for my case in the Selangor Syariah court will be next month," he said.
Ezra, 32, is the director of ZI Publications Sdn Bhd and who was charged at the Syariah Lower Court with publishing the offending book. He wanted to mount a constitutional challenge to declare Section 16 which Zi Publications and himself were charged under to be unconstitutional as it is against freedom of expression.
On May 25, 2012, Selangor Islamic Department officials raided ZI Publications office and seized 180 copies of the Bahasa Malaysia translation of the book Allah, Liberty and Love by controversial Canadian author Irshad Manji.
Subsequently, Ezra was charged with publishing the book but he filed a judicial review application to have the matter referred directly to the Federal Court for interpretation.
Ezra was represented by Paveendep Singh, while the Selangor government was represented by state legal advisor, Nik Suhaimi Nik Sulaiman and assistant state legal advisor, Ahmad Fuad Othman.
Senior federal counsel Suzana Atan appeared for the federal government while the Selangor Islamic Council was represented by Zulkifli Che Yong.
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