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Former Top Cop Held In Bruneian Crackdown
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, March 25 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - A retired police officer and three others have been held in custody in Brunei since late last year in a crackdown on attempts to spread Christianity in Brunei.
Brunei's Internal Security Department (ISD) has also investigated another 25 people, but they have all been released, news agencies said.
The three held under Brunei's Internal Security Act since last December have not been charged either. "Their detention is reviewed periodically," a source told AFP Sunday.
Former police superintendent Fredie Chong Abdullah, and businessmen Malai Taufick and Yunus Murang are accused of trying to convert Muslims to Christianity in the Sultanate.
They engaged in activities "aimed to deviate the belief of the Muslim population by deceptive means," the ISD said.
"Their activities are assessed as a direct violation to the laws and aspirations of the constitution and jeopardizes the religious harmony in Borneo."
Two of the men were said to have admitted to being baptized, but lived a "double life" to draw in more Muslims.
The other 25 investigated by the ISD - 13 Muslims and 12 Christians - included 10 members of the Borneo Evangelical Church Mission, which is not registered in Brunei.
The ISD 's investigations revealed the involvement of foreign organizations smuggling in materials and equipment into Brunei to help the group spread Christian propaganda.
"The activities of the group could jeopardize religious harmony and stability in Brunei because these were directed towards certain Muslim establishments in Brunei," the ISD said.
A Bruneian newspaper recently quoted an unidentified man as saying the Christian preachers were mainly young and charming foreign women. "Because of their sweet talk, I nearly got converted," he said.
The Borneo Evangelical Church Mission, founded in 1959, has been sending missionaries to spread Christianity and convert rural people in the Malaysian states of Sarawak and Sabah on Borneo Island, and has been intensifying its missionary work along the Sarawak border with Brunei, sources said.
Brunei prohibits the conversion of Muslims to any other religion, and the ISD statement urged the public to follow the rules "to preserve the religious harmony and stability" of the Sultanate.
Bordering the South China Sea and Malaysia, the Sultanate of Brunei sits on top of vast petroleum and natural gas fields, the source of one of the highest per capita gross domestic product (GDP) among less developed countries.
Islam is the official religion in the Sultanate, 75% of Brunei's 350,000 are Muslims. Only 10% of the Bruneian people are Christian, while 13% are Buddhists, with 10% holding indigenous beliefs.
The Bruneian legal system is based on English common law, but for Muslims, Islamic Shari'a law overrules civil law in various areas.
Bruneian people belong to various ethnic groups: 62% are Malay, 15% are Chinese, 6% indigenous and 17% belong to other ethnic groups.
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