Home Minister has power to refuse importation of any publication, court told

KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court was today told that the Home Minister has the power to refuse the importation of any publication into Malaysia if he was satisfied that the publication is likely to be prejudicial to public order or national interest.
Senior federal counsel Shamsul Bolhassan said Section 9 of the Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984 had also empowered the minister to withhold delivery or return to the sender thereof outside Malaysia any publication, including article, caricature, photograph or any other thing, which was likely to be prejudicial to morality and security.
"It is also submitted that the exercise of the discretionary power by the minister is subject to his satisfaction. In exercising such discretion, the Minister must not have improper motive, has not misdirected himself, has considered all relevant matters and the decision did not militate against the object of the law," he said during the hearing of a judicial review application by a Christian woman, Jill Ireland Lawrence Bill.
Shamsul, who represented the Home Ministry and the Malaysian Government as respondents, said therefore, it could not be said that the religious freedom of the applicant (Jill Ireland) was violated by Section 9 of the act when it was clearly provided under the Federal Law.
"It is submitted for the applicant that the 1986 Government Directive, which prohibits Christian publications from using the word "Allah", is unconstitutional as it infringes the rights of the applicant and her fellow congregation from professing and practising the religion," he said.
Shamsul also said that the 1986 Government Directive was a Cabinet decision and also a policy decision at that point of time to avoid any confusion among Muslims and Christians, which was likely to be prejudicial to public order, hence creating religious sensitivity among Malaysians.
"As it is now, the 1986 Government Directive still stands and has not been withdrawn," he said before High Court Judge Datuk Nor Bee Ariffin.
Shamsul said it was interesting to note that despite the allegation of infringement to the rights of Christian community to profess and practice their religion as a result of the 1986 Government Directive, it was submitted that the publication was still permissible with endorsement "Untuk Agama Kristian" (For Christians Only) on the publication.
"Therefore, to say that the 1986 Government Directive has infringed their rights to profess and practice is inaccurate," he said, adding that the declaration sought by Jill Ireland was hypothetical or premature as she had yet to be deprived of any such importation.
"The is no indication that she will be deprived of her religious freedom in the near future," he said.
Jill Ireland, a Melanau clerk from Sarawak, filed the judicial review application on Aug 20, 2008, for the return of eight CDs seized from her on May 11, 2008, upon her arrival at the Low-Cost Carrier Terminal (LCCT) in Sepang.
The CDs were with the title "Cara Hidup Dalam Kerajaan Allah", "Hidup Benar Dalam Kerajaan Allah" and "Ibadah Yang Benar Dalam Kerajaan Allah".
On July 21, 2014, the High Court ordered that the CDs be returned to Jill Ireland, but it did not make an order on the declaration applied for by the woman that she had the right to keep, use and import published materials containing the word "Allah".
On June 23, 2015, the Court of Appeal endorsed the High Court's decision which ordered the Home Ministry to return the seized eight CDs belonging to the woman after dismissing the appeal by the ministry and Malaysian government against the High Court's decision.
The Home Ministry was ordered to return the CDs within a month from the date of the decision, and also ordered that the declaration sought by Jill Ireland be heard in the High Court. — Bernama