The AG is ‘not in the interest of justice’ — The Malaysian Insider

MARCH 5 — Is it any wonder why Attorney-General Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail can’t walk the talk about justice in the country?

He put his foot in the mouth again last night when justifying that charging the Al-Islam magazine editors and reporters who offended Catholics in an article would have been “not in the interest of justice”.

His statement was outrageous at the very least as he was offering protection to a group of people who have not had the decency to apologise for their actions.

And Gani was condoning vigilantism as the reporters had participated in a Catholic rite while investigating an allegation that Muslims were being converted.

State news agency Bernama quoted Gani as saying the actions of the two reporters might have hurt the feelings of the people but he was satisfied that they did not intend to offend anyone and it was an act of sheer ignorance.

“It was further disclosed that they did not know the significance of the white bread. No disturbance was caused in the church. In fact, no one in the church was aware that they were Malays,” he had said.

Fact is, Gani treated the desecration of the host (not simply white bread as he stated) as a flippant act. It is a rite holy to the Catholics and not just a treat at the end of prayers.

He justified his action by citing previous decisions based on the situations in that particular time and not just on law.

“I have previously decided similarly in other cases where the circumstances were quite similar involving other religions, under those circumstances taking serious action would not be in the interest of justice at that particular time,” Gani stressed.

Simply put, this man by his statement has shown himself to be incapable of protecting the interest of Christians and non-Muslims in the country.

One has to look no further than across the Causeway where bloggers who insulted Islam were sanctioned and a pastor who ridiculed Buddhism and Taoism was warned by Singapore’s Internal Security Dept and forced to apologise.

In Malaysia, the AG has the cheek to turn the other cheek and let people who insult a religion get away with it because in his mind, it is “not in the interest of justice”.

One can only wonder what justice is for the AG, for his actions in the Al-Islam case show he is “not in the interest of justice” in any time or situation.