Two Muslim Malaysian brothers were yesterday sentenced to five years in prison for firebombing a church, the first of a spate of attacks on places of worship that shocked the nation this year.
The Jan. 7 torching of a church in suburban Kuala Lumpur, which sent tensions soaring in the multi-ethnic country, was “appalling and despicable,” Sessions Court judge S. M. Komathy Suppiah said.
“You both, by your shameful and dastardly acts, have shamed the country,” she told Raja Mohamad Faizal Raja Ibrahim, 24, and Raja Mohamad Idzham Raja Ibrahim, 22.
“The message from this court must be loud and clear: Don’t play with fire,” she told the sombre-looking pair.
The attack, which gutted part of the three-story church, was followed by a series of fires that saw a dozen mosques, churches and prayer halls across the Muslim-majority nation torched and vandalized.
In an unprecedented onslaught, the places of worship were pelted with Molotov cocktails, splashed with black paint and had windows smashed with stones.
The violence was triggered by a ruling that overturned a ban on non-Muslim Malaysians using “Allah” as a translation for “God.”
The government argued that the use of the word “Allah” by Christians, who make up 9 percent of the population, could cause confusion and encourage religious conversion, which is illegal for Malaysian Muslims.
Malaysia’s Christians, many from indigenous groups in the Borneo states of Sabah and Sarawak who speak the national language Malay, say they have used the word without incident for centuries.
The still-unresolved “Allah” row is one of a string of religious disputes that have erupted in recent years, straining relations between majority Malays and minorities who fear the country is being “Islamized.”
Reverend Thomas Philips, the head of Malaysia’s inter-faith council, welcomed the verdict and said it was time for the nation to put the ugly episode behind it.
“We urge all Malaysians to respect one another’s place of worship,” he said. “So let’s move on, now that a sentence has been passed, and close this chapter.”
Representatives of the church firebombed on Jan. 7, the Metro Tabernacle which is part of the Assemblies of God movement, had no immediate comment, but have said previously that they forgive those responsible.
Counsel for the convicted pair, who are both motorcycle dispatch riders, said they would appeal the conviction and sentence, but refused to make any further comment. The brothers were to be released on bail pending the results of the appeal.
Religion and language are sensitive issues in multiracial Malaysia, which was hit by deadly race riots in 1969.
Some 60 percent of the population are Muslim Malays, living alongside large ethnic Chinese and Indian communities.
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