The Bar Council's forum on "Conversion to Islam" held in Kuala Lumpur this morning was ended early to avoid tension and prevent the situation from getting out of control, Home Minister Syed Hamid Albar said.

syed hamid albar He said police advised the organiser to end the forum early to avoid tension after the crowd demonstrating outside the Bar Council office, the venue, continued to swell.

"We didn't want the anger to lead to any untoward incident. So far, I've not received any report on threat to security or disturbance to public order," he was quoted as saying by Bernama.

Syed Hamid said that although the country practised freedom of speech, the sensitivities of others must be respected.

He hoped that the Bar Council got the message that "there are certain things that are out of bounds for public discussion, even if held in a private place."

Refer to the courts

Cases involving the conversion of a person to Islam could be referred to the courts for resolution, the minister said.

convertion forum protest 090807 big crowd On calls by some parties for the government to use the Sedition Act and Internal Security Act (ISA) against the Bar Council, he said the government did not want to use preventive laws indiscriminately unless investigations showed that it was warranted.

"We are very careful in using preventive laws but at the same time we have to ensure that public peace and the country's interest are not undermined or threatened," he added.

Today's forum, which had received strong opposition from various parties, started at 9am and was scheduled to end at 1.30pm but Bar Council president S Ambiga formally ended it an hour later upon advice from the police after the protesters outside swelled.