Mohd Bakri Zinin

The magazine, Al Islam which is published by Utusan Karya Sdn Bhd had carried a report written by two of its journalists who went "undercover" for mass at the St.Anthony Church on Jalan Pudu.

The reporters, one of whom was identified as Muhd Ridhwan Abdul Jalil had apparently gone to investigate a claim alleging that Malay Muslims who had committed apostasy were attending mass or prayers at the church.

The reporter had wrote that his findings showed that the so called "Malay Muslims" were actually Catholics from Sabah, Sarawak and Philippines and not Malays.

He had also admitted that he took part in receiving the Holy Communion, a sacred ritual where Christians are fed the "body and blood" of Jesus Christ in the form of a thin bread refered to as the host and red wine by a priest. The story also showed a picture of the the host half eaten.

On July 8th after coming across t he story in the magazine, two parishners of the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit Church in Penang, Joachim Francis Xavier and Sudhagaran Stanley lodged a police report at the Patani police station in Penang urging police to probe the magazine and the journalist.

Federal police CID director, Comm Datuk Seri Mohd Bakri Zinin said the case was transfered to Dang Wangi police as the alleged act had taken place in their jurisdiction.

He said several people have been inteviewed over the report and the case has been classified under Section 298 (a) of the Penal Code for uttering words or actions with deliberate intent to wound religious feelings.

"We will speak to witnesses and the complainants first and then we will move on to summon the journalist for questioning." he said.

It is learnt that police have questioned four witnesses to date.

Archbishop of the Catholic Church of Malaysia Tan Sri Murphy Pakiam, when contacted said he had yet to see the story and would leave the matter to the police.

He hoped police will carry out a thorough probe into the story and take action on those involved, should it turn out to be true.

"We do not know if the story is true or otherwise. I have yet to receive any complaint from the church priest. If it was true, where was the good sense of the editor of the publication?" he asked.

"Such stories keep appearing often in Malay publications every now and then and it is not healthy if we are working towards our national race integration goal of a 1Malaysia. I hope the police will not only act this time but also if more of such articles are published in future," he said when contacted by theSun.

Sudhagaran, 24 said he received calls from Dang Wangi and federal police on the day he lodged the report and they had told him they will probe the case.

However, he said, to date he and Joachim have yet to be contacted for an interview apart from brief statements they had given to police on the day the report was lodged.

"We lodged the report on our personal capacity as Catholics and we were offended by the actions of the journalists. We wonder what would happen if roles were reversed here. It would have provoked a major issue. This should not happen to any faith for that matter, not just the Catholic Church.

"Our report is not in anyway to construe that the whole Muslim community is behind this but just these two individuals (journalists).

"To partake in the most sacred part of our worship and to remove the host and have it photographed is highly offensive to us. We want to know where the holy host is now and we demand they return it to us" said Joachim, told theSun.