PETALING JAYA, Jan 7 — Churches and Christians face great risk after a Selangor official said state Islamic religious officers were justified in confiscating hundreds of bibles from the Bible Society of Malaysia, the latter's president warned today.

Lee Min Choon told reporters he disagreed with state executive councillor (exco) Sallehen Mukhyi’s justification that officials from the Selangor Islamic Religious Department (Jais) had toed the line in a shock raid on BSM’s office here last Thursday that ended with over 300 bibles in Malay and Bahasa Iban seized.

“The statement by the state executive councillor puts the Christian community, BSM and churches at great risk... by saying Jais followed standard operating procedures it is saying that it is justified to carrying out such operations,” Lee said in a hastily-convened news conference here in response to Sallehen’s remarks made in Shah Alam earlier today.

“They justified entering churches to look for bibles, entering houses of Christians looking for Malay bibles. That is the logical extension of what was stated by state executive councillor. And this puts Christians not only BSM, but Christians and churches in precarious situation,” the lawyer added.

He called on responsible parties to offer a “realistic solution to the problem” rather than to rationalise the search on BSM’s office.

Sallehen, who is in charge of Islamic affairs in Selangor, said this morning that Jais acted in accordance to the Selangor Non-Islamic Religions Enactment 1988 “after receiving complaints from public”.

The Sabak assemblyman, however, conceded that Jais’ operations guidelines should be revised to prevent unnecessary anxiety.

Lee said BSM only “buys and supplies” the Malay-language Bible—better known as the Al-Kitab—and denied it was engaged in propagating the Christian faith as claimed by reports filed against the society.

“We simply supply a range of Bibles in a lot of languages to meet the needs to the one million Malay-speaking Christians in Malaysia. We do not engage in propaganda.

“If we don't supply these Bibles, they will only be available illegally and Christians don't like to break the law,” he said.

“Jais should return the Bibles and respect 10-point solution,” said Lee referring to the Najib Cabinet's agreement mooted in 2011 to placate Christians after the Home Ministry held up shipments of the Alkitab at Port Klang and Kuching Port.

Lee said Putrajaya had sent representatives to meet BSM after the latest religious flare-up, but added that the matter was still under discussion.

He said he hoped the latest row could be settled amicably without resorting to court action.

“As a lawyer, I know once you start legal action there is no more room for talk,” he said.

Lee rebutted news reports that Selangor had also sent representatives to meet with BSM.

The only meeting planned, he said, was with Jais officials set for Friday.

Lee and BSM office manager Sinclair Wong had been arrested by the police who had accompanied Jais officials on their raid last week but were released after bail was posted.

The bible society chief said he was still unclear as their alleged offence, and related that neither he nor Wong had been questioned on propagating a religion.

Relations between Malaysia's dominant Muslim community and its minority Christians who make up less than 10 per cent of the country's 28 million people have been increasingly tense after the Catholic Church went to court to uphold what it believes to be its constitutional right to practise its own religion.

The Catholic Church had in 2008 contested the Home Ministry's policy barring it from publishing “Allah” in the Malay language section of its weekly, Herald.

The High Court ruled in the church's favour in 2009, but the judgment was overturned by the Court of Appeal last October after a three-judge panel decided the Arabic word not to be integral to the Christian faith.

The legal dispute is far from over as the church has appealed to the Federal Court, which has set February 24 to hear arguments from both sides.