Malaysia's Catholic Church said Thursday its lawyers' offices had been burgled and ransacked in the latest of a spate of attacks triggered by a row over the use of the word "Allah". Police said a church in southern Johor state was also attacked, bringing to 10 the number of churches that have been fire-bombed or vandalised in the past week.
Trouble broke out after the High Court decided on December 31 to lift a government ban on non-Muslims using "Allah" as a translation for "God". "Our lawyers' offices were broken into and burgled sometime between Wednesday evening and Thursday morning and the office was ransacked," said Father Lawrence Andrew, editor of the Catholic Church newspaper the Herald.
"We believe the break-in is linked to the ongoing situation over the use of the word 'Allah' and we are very concerned," he told AFP. "The law firm does not have any money or many valuables so we believe this is purely aimed at intimidation."
Church lawyer Derek Fernandez said a laptop was stolen in the attack on his firm's offices in south-west Kuala Lumpur, and he was checking whether any documents had been taken. "This was a very professional job as there were very strong grilles protecting the office that were cut and the locks (were) carefully replaced after the break-in," he told AFP. However, police denied the incident was linked to the Allah row.
"Police investigations so far indicate that this is purely a housebreaking and theft case, and is in no way related to the Allah issue," federal criminal investigation chief Bakri Zinin said in a statement.
Police said meanwhile the Saint Elizabeth Catholic Church in Johor had been splashed with paint early Thursday. "The church was splashed with red paint sometime early this morning," deputy national police chief Ismail Omar told AFP. "We are still investigating the matter."
Malaysia's Bar Council condemned the attack on the law offices, saying lawyers must be free to represent their clients "without fear or favour". "Criticism and dissent are legitimate forms of expression, but threats, coercion, intimidation or violence are unacceptable," president Ragunath Kesavan said.
The High Court ruling in favour of the Herald, which argued for the right to use "Allah" in its Malay-language section, was suspended last week pending an appeal, after the government argued the decision could cause racial conflict. Since the ruling, churches have been hit with Molotov cocktails, splashed with paint and had windows smashed with stones, triggering tighter security at places of worship nation-wide.