Malaysia detains Christians on alleged conversion mission (Roundup)

Jul 15, 2009, 11:04 GMT

   Kuala Lumpur - Malaysian police detained nine Christians accused of attempting to convert Muslims at a local university, but later freed the students, news reports said.

   The nine students claimed they were visiting friends at the university in the central Selangor state late Tuesday when they were stopped by campus security police, Annou Xavier told the Malaysian Insider news portal.

   Annou said the students, who denied allegations they were trying to evangelise Muslims, said authorities claimed a police report had been lodged against them.

   The nine, four of whom were from Hong Kong, were held in a police station until they were released Wednesday, state police chief Khalid Abu Bakar said.

   Khalid said they were detained for trespassing on university grounds.

   'The students were apparently there to conduct a survey on the number of Christian students studying in the university,' Khalid was quoted as saying by the Star online news portal.

   'We are only investigating them for trespassing and not for 'propagating Christianity' as alleged by several online news portals and foreign news agencies,' he said.

   Attempting to convert a Muslim to another religion is a serious crime in predominantly Muslim Malaysia. Those found guilty face prison terms, while Muslims are not penalised for converting people from other beliefs.

   Malaysia's constitution guarantees freedom of worship but says all ethnic Malays are Muslim. Under Sharia law, Muslims are not allowed to convert.