PETALING JAYA — A Catholic lawyers’ group has condemned what it called a “nefarious” video posted online containing parts of a speech by Archbishop Julian Leow from 2014, which they said was taken out of context.
The Facebook post, uploaded on a page called the “Hud-Hud Crew”, claimed that in the four-minute video, Leow spoke of his 25-year plan against Muslims.
The post, titled “Rahsia Besar: Rakaman Perancangan 25 Tahun Archbishop Katolik Kuala Lumpur Untuk Rebus Orang Islam Seperti Merebus Katak”, claimed that Leow had used an analogy of boiling frogs to describe his plan to pressure Muslims in the country.
It also alleged that the archbishop had “admitted” that the issue on the use of the word “Allah” was part of this 25-year plan.
The post said the video was passed to the “Hud-Hud Crew” by anonymous members of the church, who supposedly wanted to thwart Leow’s plan that they believed would cause a rift between Muslims and Christians in the country.
It had also included the hashtag “#RebusUmatIslam” or #BoiltheMuslims.
In a statement today, Catholic Lawyers’ Society Kuala Lumpur (CLS) president Godfrey Thomas Fernandez said the video was taken out of context with the intention of threatening religious peace and harmony enjoyed by people of different faiths in the country.
“To protect the sanctity of the Catholic Church in Malaysia and for the personal protection of His Grace Archbishop Julian Leow, the CLS calls upon the relevant authorities to investigate the video in question, the owner of the Facebook page and the makers of the incendiary, inflammatory and derogatory statements on the Facebook page in question for sedition, criminal intimidation and criminal defamation.”
Fernandez said the CLS “abhors hatred and violence towards any person on the basis of race or religion”.
“The CLS recognises the inherent dignity of every human being whose rights must be protected regardless of race, ethnicity or religion.”
He said the society also hoped for all parties to engage in inter-religious cooperation to address issues that could result in potential conflict.
Related post: Catholic Lawyers’ Society issues press statement on ‘nefarious’ video on Facebook
