Malaysia sect detainees test law

By Jonathan Kent
BBC News, Kuala Lumpur

Police raided the Sky Kingdom compound in July

Two Malaysians charged with belonging to a deviant religious sect are applying to test the nation's guarantees of religious freedom.

They were among a number of people arrested at the home of an inter-faith group known as the Sky Kingdom.

The group's leader says he was sent by God, and preaches religious tolerance.

The pair argue that they had renounced Islam, and therefore did not break an edict banning Muslims from associating with the group.

Religious choice

Known as much for building a giant teapot structure as for its teachings, the Sky Kingdom has often been criticised for luring adherents away from Islam.

Police moved in to the group's compound in the state of Terengganu in early July, and arrested 21 people.

All were charged in an Islamic court with breaking a fatwa, an edict issued by the state's Islamic authorities.

A large teapot dominates the Sky Kingdom

Two of them are now set to challenge that charge by arguing that they had renounced their faith.

They have applied for a hearing before Malaysia's federal court - a secular body to test Article 11 of the country's constitution which allows citizens to profess and practise the religion of their choice.

However, in the past, secular judges have dodged the issue of whether Muslims are allowed to change religion, by referring cases back to Islamic courts.

They in turn have ruled that defendants are only trying to leave their religion to evade Islamic justice.

International dimension

There is strong resistance among Muslims the world over to allowing anyone to leave the faith.

However an Islamic court has already made an exception in this case, for a New Zealand citizen who was among those arrested at the Sky Kingdom.

Judges accepted her assertion that her conversion to Islam was connected with her marriage and that she remained a Christian in her heart.

The ruling neatly avoided turning an otherwise local matter into an international incident.

Of the other detainees from the sect, 17 pleaded not guilty and opted for trial before an Islamic court.

One pleaded guilty and was sentenced to a year's religious rehabilitation under the guidance of local Islamic officials.