Four men were charged at the Taiping Magistrate’s Court today over arson attacks on two churches and a school last month.

The charges under Section 436 of the Penal Code were read to the four, who are believed to be unemployed.

Section 436 deals with ‘causing mischief with fire or explosives’, and carries a maximum 20-year jail term and/or a fine upon conviction.

No plea was recorded as the cases are to be heard in the Sessions Court. As both Sessions judges are on leave, they were brought before Magistrate Sharifah Izura Syed Mashor for mention.

taiping arson attack all saints church Abdul Sattah Shaharuddin, 29, and Mohd Abdul Wahab, 20 were both charged with intent to cause arson between 12.01am and 3.30am on Jan 10 , on the All Saints Church (right) in Jalan Taming Sari.

Mohamad Azreen Rosli, 18, was charged with attempting to cause arson on the Taiping Catholic Church, formerly known as St Louis Church, in Jalan Convent on the same date.

taiping arson attack st louis church Andidi Rosdi, 22, faces a similar charge of attempting to cause arson on the same date on the guard house of SMK Convent Taiping, located next to the Taiping Catholic Church (left) .

Deputy Public Prosecutor Hamdan Hamzah pressed for maximum bail of RM30,000 and a guarantor for each suspect, as the alleged offences “touch on racial sensitivities and are of national concern”.

He said that, if the suspects post bail, they must report to the Taiping police headquarters  every week on Monday.

Both the accused and their parents asked for a reduction of bail, which the magistrate dismissed. She also ordered them to report to the police each Monday.

Mention date fixed

The four, who live in the Kamunting area, did not post bail and were  taken to Taiping prison at about 2.30pm. They will be produced in the Sessions Court on Feb 8 for mention of the cases.

It is also believed that the remaining three suspects picked up by police on Jan 22 are still being remanded for investigations.

The attacks on the three premises were prompted by the Kuala Lumpur High Court ruling last December, allowing Catholic weekly Herald to use the word ‘Allah’ in its Bahasa Malaysia version.

In all, 12 churches and a gurdwara were attacked. Three men claimed trial on Jan 29 in Kuala Lumpur in connection with the attack on Metro Tabernacle Church in Desa Melawati on Jan 7.