Malaysia does not allow religious provocation in the name of freedom of expression - Najib

Malaysia will not allow religious provocation or any threatening act or insulting of any religion to take place even in the name of freedom of expression, said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak. Najib reiterated that freedom had its limitation.

He said the authorities would continue to take action against those attempting to cause religious conflicts.

"Mutual respect among the various races is a basic principle that we need to practise to ensure national harmony is maintained," he said in his message aired over local radio network, today.

Najib said Malaysia strongly condemned the terrorist attacks in several locations around the world such as in Paris and Sydney, recently.

"In the 'Charlie Hebdo' context, we completely avoid such attacks, nevertheless at the same time, it is pointless to accept such actions of provocation against other religions," Najib said.

He was alluding to last week's incident which saw an attack on the office of a French satire magazine in Paris that killed 12 people.

The magazine, among others had published provocative cartoons that were seen as insulting Prophet Muhammad, an act that came under fire from Muslims.

Najib also said to safeguard the country from terrorist threats such as Isis, also known as the Islamic State, the authorities had started an operation to detect and detain those involved with such groups.

He drew attention to the White paper to address the ISIS threat that was tabled in Parliament in November last year and new anti-terrorist bills to be tabled in March.