Court orders 'Allah' CDs returned to woman

Kuala Lumpur: A Christian woman from Sarawak Monday got back her eight compact discs (CDs) on Christianity which contain the word "Allah" that were confiscated by the Home Ministry six years ago.Jill Ireland Lawrence Bill was allowed to have possession of all the CDs when High Court judge Datuk Zaleha Yusof allowed her application for a judicial review of the ministry's action.

In the application, Bill had applied for a mandamus order against the then (2008) Home Minister to return the CDs that were confiscated from her.

Zaleha also allowed Bill's application to revoke the decision of the Home Ministry in confiscating the CDs from her.

She ruled the order from the Home Minister to seize the CDs as ultra virus.

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The CDs were seized from Bill on May 11, 2008 at the old low-cost carrier terminal in Sepang.

Justice Zaleha only allowed for two of the 11 demands in Jill Ireland's judicial review, and ordered the ministry to pay her RM5,000 in costs.

In her judgement, Justice Zaleha said it was clear a senior authorised officer could only seize materials pending a decision of the minister, although there was no provision for the minister to delegate power to a subordinate.

She found that in this case, the decision was made by Customs Superintendent Suzanah Muin (the officer who allegedly seized the CDs from Jill Ireland) but not by then-Home Minister Tan Sri Syed Hamid Albar himself.

"I agree that the order was obtained ultra vires and that the respondent is guilty of error of law," said Justice Zaleha.

Jill Ireland, 33, had on May 4, 2009 obtained leave from the court to challenge the Home Minister's decision to seize her eight CDs that contained the word "Allah".

On May 11, 2008, the ministry seized the CDs under Section 9 (1) of the Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984 when Jill disembarked at the Low-Cost Carrier Terminal in Sepang.

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The CDs, containing titles including Cara Menggunakan Kunci Kerajaan Allah, Cara Hidup Dalam Kerajaan Allah and Ibadah Yang Benar Dalam Kerajaan Allah, were brought from Indonesia.

Senior federal counsel Munahyza Mustafa and Ardi Razalijaya A.Radi appeared for the respondents, while Bill was represented by lawyer Lim Heng Seng.

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