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SHAH ALAM: The legal battle that publisher Mohd Ezra Mohd Zaid faces over a controversial book, titled “Allah, Love and Freedom”, has finally ended after eight years of the Petaling Syariah lower court order to acquit him of a related charge. with the book. which was considered offensive to Islam.
Syarie Court Judge Shukran Yusof issued the order for the 37-year-old’s release and acquittal.
Ezra was charged under section 16 (1) (a) of the Syariah (Selangor) Criminal Offenses Act 1995. The charge, which he first faced in 2013, was that of publishing, distributing and possessing 180 copies from the book written by Canadian Irshad. Manji.
Last week, the prosecution asked the court for three orders: an exoneration that did not amount to an acquittal (DNAA) for Ezra, that the 180 books were not returned to Ezra’s ZI Publications Sdn Bhd, but were removed, and one to prevent him from speaking publicly about the case.
The judge rejected DNAA’s request and acquitted her entirely on the grounds that the matter would have become academic if she had been granted a DNAA.
“This case is not valid, as of the arrest, and the decision to prosecute the fourth defendant (Syarie de Selangor’s chief prosecutor) was annulled by the Court of Appeal and no appeal to the Federal Court is allowed anymore,” he said here on Thursday (December 17).
The court allowed the second order to lose and destroy the books, but did not allow the third request, which means that Ezra can freely speak about his case.
The court also ordered that Ezra’s 1,000 ringgit bail be returned to him.
Speaking to the press outside, Ezra said he was happy the case was over.
Syarie’s prosecutor, Zamniazura Mohd Sarin, appeared for the indictment, while Ezra was represented by attorney Zulkifli Che Yong.
On May 29, 2012, Ezra was arrested and the Islamic Religious Department of Selangor (Jais) confiscated 180 copies of the books during a raid on the ZI Publications office.
The Ministry of the Interior’s ban order on the original English version and the Bahasa Malay translation was published on the same day.
On March 7, 2013, Ezra was charged, in his capacity as director of ZI Publications and main shareholder, with the publication, distribution and possession of these books.
Subsequently, ZI Publication and Ezra filed a request for judicial review to challenge the raid carried out by Jais.
They also requested an order to overturn the raid, seizure and arrest of Jais, as well as an order forcing the religious department to return the 180 copies.
On March 7, 2018, the Superior Court rejected the judicial review.
On September 25, 2019, the Court of Appeals allowed his appeal to overturn the decision to prosecute him on the books.
On September 29 of this year, the Federal Court rejected Jais’s request for permission to appeal against the Court of Appeals decision favoring Ezra and ZI Publications.
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