Malaysian goes to court to reclaim CDs containing the word "Allah"

Jill Ireland Lawrence Bill, from the eastern state of Sarawak on Borneo island, is seeking to overturn the Home Ministry's seizure of her CDs, which she claimed infringed on her constitutional right to practise her Christian religion.

 The Kuala Lumpur High Court on Wednesday fixed January 12 for the  hearing of the case.

 In May 2008, the Home Ministry confiscated eight of Bill's CDs which were in the Malay and Indonesian language, after they were found to be using the word "Allah," which is banned for non-Muslim publications.

 The Malaysian government claimed that use of the name in non-Muslim publications would cause confusion among Muslims, which make up 60 per cent of the country's 27-million population.

 Critics say the government has no legal right to ban the use of a word that predated the Koran and Islam.

 Bill asked the court to quash the ministry's action and declare  that she has the right to possess, use and import publications containing the word.

 She said she received a letter from the government in July last year citing the reasons for the confiscation, including that the CDs were a threat to security, used prohibited words and were a breach of Islamic guidelines.