Cops: Investigations on Catholic priest over Allah row complete

Police have wrapped up their investigation over the issue relating to the usage of ‘Allah’ following the questioning of their main suspect, editor of The Herald Catholic weekly, Lawrence Andrew, yesterday.

The investigation papers, according to Selangor police chief Datuk Mohd Shukri Dahlan, will be handed over to the Attorney-General’s Chambers(AGC) today.

The AGC will now decide whether to charge Lawrence under Section 4 of the Sedition Act 1948, the provision police had classified the case under.

A total of 99 individuals have given their statements on the case, he said.

The last individual to be questioned was Lawrence at Selangor police headquarters yesterday.

Lawrence was questioned over his statement in news portal The Malaysian Insider over the ‘Allah’ issue.

On Dec 27, Lawrence reportedly said that Christians in Bahasa Malaysia churches will continue to use the word ‘Allah’ in their prayers and services.

Various quarters have taken his comment as a direct challenge to an edict by the Sultan of Selangor that non-Muslims in the state were prohibited from using the word Allah.

Meanwhile, DAP publicity chief Tony Pua said that the decision to investigate Lawrence ‘reeked of double standards’.

Pua questioned why other religious leaders who have allegedly made even more dangerous remarks remarks, such as Perak Mufti Tan Sri Harussani Zakaria and Perkasa’s Datuk Zulkifli Noordin, were never hauled up for questioning.