•    HOME   
•    NEWS   
•    BUSINESS   
•    INTERNATIONAL   
•    TECH   
•    SPORTS   
•    LIFE & TIMES   
•    OPINION   
•    MY JAKARTA   
•    BLOGS   

Kuala Lumpur. A Malaysian court on Friday jailed two brothers for five years for setting fire to a church, reports said, after a spate of similar attacks provoked racial and religious anger in this mostly Muslim country.

The sentence on the two Malay Muslim brothers was stayed pending an appeal after the two were convicted of setting the Metro Tabernacle church ablaze on January 7.

The attack, coupled with the caning of three Muslim women in February for having sex out of wedlock, had fanned fears that a more radical brand of Islam was taking root in the country.

Prime Minister Najib Razak has tried to promote the concept of an inclusive Malaysian society to reverse a trend of falling foreign direct investment.

“Torching the Metro Tabernacle church in this case was an appalling and despicable thing to do,” Sessions Court judge Komathy Suppiah said.

“Individuals who commit arson attacks on places of worship deserve little or no mercy from the courts. The message from this court must be loud and clear. Don’t play with fire.”

The offence carries a maximum prison sentence of 20 years and a fine upon conviction.

The attack was one in a series of arson and vandalism attacks on 11 churches, a Catholic school, a Sikh temple, a mosque and two prayer rooms amid a row on the use of the word “Allah” by Christians referring to God.

A court ruling last year had allowed a Catholic newspaper to use the word “Allah” in its Malay-language editions to describe the Christian God, causing anger among some Muslims.

The use of the word is common among Malay-speaking Christians, who account for 9.1 percent of the 28 million population, mostly in the Borneo states of Sabah and Sarawak.

The government is appealing the court verdict, while the opposition maintains that the use of the word by Christians is permissible under law.
 

Reuters