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The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; he has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed; Luke 4:18
moses@gospel2poor.org
LATEST NEWS
OA Church under Threats
of possible demolition
Related sites
Demolished Church of Kg Jias on 4th June 2007
Church building reduced to rubbles
This court case will be heard in the High Court in Kota Baru on the 15th January '08 (Tuesday). Please uphold us in your prayer that the PAS Government in Kelantan will abide by the Laws and Constitution of Malaysia and that there will always be freedom of worship and that the OA will no longer be oppressed there.
Church demolished in Kelantan
This Christian church built by the Orang Asli on their own traditional land in Kg. Jias was on 4th Jun '07 demolished by the Gua Musang local authority against the Law of Malaysia (Akta Orang Asli) and the freedom of worship as guarantee by the Federal constitution. A civil action has been taken against the local authority and the Kelantan State Government.
History of the High Court case in Kota Baru
January '08
The case was called up for hearing before the Judge Dato Azman. The plaintiffs are represented by Mr. N. Subramaniyan and Mr. Lum Chee Seng.
The three defendants are: (1) The District Council of Gua Musang, (2) The Land Administrator and (3) The Kelantan State Government.
The originating summons and the affidavit in support were served on all the defendants.
The case was initially fixed for hearing on 10th. October 2007, but because of the Hari Raya Puasa, the Court postponed the case to 15th. January 2008
Dear Moses,
The case was originally fixed for clarification on 26th May 2008. When this date was fixed sometime in February, the Court Vacation dates were not announced. Subsequently it was found that the 26th May was during the Court vacation which was from 25th May till 6th June 2008. Consequently a new date was fixed.
Latest from the High Court in Kota Baru
Case postponed again and to 12th. August '08
7th July '08
12th August '08
Latest from the High Court in Kota Baru
Case postponed to 20th November '08
20th November '08
A good turnout of Orang Asli at the Kota Baru High Court to show their dissatisfaction for the illegal demolition of the church in Kg. Jias, Gua Musang by the local authority and the delay in the hearing of the case.
11th March 2009
The frustration of the Orang Asli awaiting the court's decision since the church was torn down by the local authority since the 4th of June 2007 .
Again this case is postponed to 17th June 2009,
though the church was torn down since 4th. June 2007.
17th June 2009
Latest from the High Court in Kota Baru
Again this case is postponed to 15th July 2009,
though the church was torn down since 4th. June 2007.
Since the demolition of the church on 4th June '07, the Orang Asli Christians have no place to worship except in this temporary plastic shed. The afternoon heat is unbearable but the suffering especially from the humiliation that their church built on the very land handed down from their forefathers hundred of years ago were torn down by the heartless oppressor.
For more than 3 years they have been worshipping the Lord weekly in this tent.
When will the Court of Appeal act ?
As at today i.e. 18th January 2011, there is still no news of the date of the case to been mentioned.
Our lawyers attended Court on 15th January 2008. Only the 1st.Defendant was represented by lawyer En. Mohd Yousof. Nobody came from the State Legal Adviser's office to represent the 2nd. and 3rd. Defendants when the case was called up for hearing before the Judge.
After initial hearing of the lawyers for both parties, the Judge directed that written submission be filed. The Judge then fixed the case on 26th. May 2008 for clarification of the written submission.
Update from the lawyer
The new date is 7th July 2008. Further we had filed our submissions in March. The lawyer for the District Council and the State Legal adviser only sent their submissions to us about 2 weeks ago. We have to draft a reply to the two submissions and we will file them in Court. On 7th July the Judge will ask for clarifications if he has any doubts or if there are any legal points that he wants us to clarify. There will not be a formal hearing in the sense that the parties will not be called to give oral evidence. This case is filed by way of affidavits and the evidence is adduced by way of affidavits. Further the matter will be heard in the Judge's chambers so only lawyers are allowed to be present.
Comment from our lawyer Subramanyam
The judge wanted us to clarify the issues that the parties had raised in their written submissions which had been given to the judge about 3 months ago together with the cases in support.
We explained to the judge that the Local Authority issued 2 notices under s. 70 (4) and (5)of the Street Drainage and Building Act, but when it came to the demolition of the church building the Local Authority failed to give the 30day notice pursuant to s 70 (6).The requirement to give the 30-day notice is mandatory. Since the Local Authority relied on this provision, they are required to comply with the Act. The judge commented that there was a breach of the law by the local authority and this was conceded by the lawyer for the local authority and the state legal adviser.
The state legal adviser replied that there is no evidence that the plaintiffs were aborigines and that the plaintiffs had failed to prove this fact. We rebutted that the State Legal Adviser did not file any affidavits to challenge the fact that the plaintiffs were Temiars and since they had not filed any affidavits, it is late for them to challenge the identity of the plaintiffs. Further the lawyer for the Local Authority had admitted that the plaintiffs were Temiars.
The judge finally understood the issues that we had raised in our written submission. The judge has now fixed the matter for decision on 15th July 2009.
subra
Case again postponed to 11th March 2009
15th July 2009
Judge allowed applications made in the Originating Summons with costs.
13th August 2009
1st. Defendant ( The District Council of Gua Musang) filed Notice of Appeal dated 10-08-2009 at Kota Bharu High Court.
17th September 2009
1st Defendant wrote to Secretary of Judge applying for note of evidence and ground of judgment.
18th October 2009
1st Defendant wrote to Court of Appeal for extension of time to file record of appeal
2nd November 2009
1st Defendant filed an application vide notice of motion for extension of time to file record of appeal
17th March 2010
1st Defendant appointed Azmi & Associates as solicitors replacing Mohd Yusof & Co.
18th March 2010
1st Defendant received note of evidence and ground of judgmentfrom Kota Baru High Court.
22nd March 2010
Court of Appeal allowed 1st defendant's Notice of Motion for estension of time to file record of appeal.
5th April 2010
1st defendant filed record of appeal and memorandum of appeal in Court of Appeal, copies were served on plaintiffs' solicitors, messrs. Subramaniyam.
Only the District Council of Gua Musang filed the appeal, and the State Government of Kelantan did not appeal at all.
15th April 2010
Plaintiffs filed and served cross-appeal
11th October 2010
First case management before Deputy Registrar to prepare for hearing
Postponed for lawyer for the defendent was absent.
Interesting Sites
The Joy of the Lord is
surely their strength
The demolished church
31st December 2010
Still no news of when the court of appeal
will fix the date of hearing.
Our brethren are still worshipping God under a tent, how long more are they going to endure this injustice ?