The Malaysian Insider – 1 hour 52 minutes ago
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- Catholic priest to get back ‘Allah’ hymn books tonight
The 31 hymnals with the word "Allah" seized by the Johor police almost two weeks ago will be returned to the Catholic Church tonight.
Father Cyril Mannayagam disclosed this after receiving a call from an officer from the Tangkak police station in Johor.
He was asked to be there at 8pm to receive the hymnals, titled "Kepujian Kepada Tuhan Allah".
While welcoming the return of the books, Cyril said he would accept them only if there were no conditions attached to their release.
"This means that there should be no stamping or warnings or other conditions set to enable me to get the books back," Cyril told The Malaysian Insider, adding that his lawyer will accompany him to the station.
Cyril was taken in for questioning on December 5 after he sent the books, meant for his Orang Asli parishioners, for photocopying at a bookshop in Tangkak.
Although he was released that night, the books were seized and police said that it was up to the Attorney-General's Chambers to decide on whether the books would be returned or not.
When contacted, Johor CID chief Datuk Hasnan Hassan and his deputy Assistant Commissioner Dennis Lim refused to confirm the news that the hymn books would be returned to Cyril tonight.
Police previously said that the 44-year-old priest was being investigated under Section 298A of the Penal Code for causing disharmony, disunity, or feelings of enmity, hatred or ill-will on grounds of religion.
The Johor police came under heavy fire following Cyril's detention and the subsequent seizure of the books, while lawyers have criticised the law used to investigate Cyril, arguing that it had been deemed unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in 1988.
Police had said that they received a tip-off that the hymn books were being sold in a bookshop in Tangkak on December 5 and had proceeded to investigate the matter.
Cyril, who has worked with the Orang Asli for more than four years, said the books were meant for a Christmas service for some 100 Orang Asli parishioners in Bekok, who were all Catholics.
He said the book was prepared by the indigenous community and had been used in their worship services for many years, denying that he was attempting to sell the books.
He previously told The Malaysian Insider that he was prepared to take the case to court should the books not be returned to him in a timely manner.
He said he could easily have used other books for the service or even photocopied more of the same hymnal books after the seizure, but decided he had to fight for his freedom to worship.
"The books are not important here. The thing is, my rights, and the rights of my people (parishioners) were taken away from us. And that is why I wanted to fight this," he said. – December 18, 2014.
