On March 26, the managers of a chain of stores were charged with “offending religious feelings” after putting on sale socks with “Allah” written on them. On Saturday, a Molotov cocktail was thrown against a Malaysian convenience store belonging to the chain that had sold these famous socks, the second attack of this kind in a week.
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With our correspondent in Kuala Lumpur, Juliette Pietraszewski
The indicted executives of the local chain of stores KK Mart have pleaded “not guilty”. On the supplier’s side, three other people were also accused of “complicity”. The Molotov cocktail attack that occurred on March 30 is “ still under investigation » said the Malaysian police, this being the second of its kind this week.
For his part, the Malaysian Prime Minister tried to calm things down in the face of this violence and his communication was intended to be strict and reassuring this Saturday. “ We will take action against those who commit such acts… Do not use racial or religious issues to disrupt order in the country “, said Anwar Ibrahim.
Calm tensions down
As a reminder, Malaysia is a multi-ethnic country, where Malays – Muslims – represent 60% of the population. Behind this declaration, the Prime Minister seems to have an objective: to ease tensions while criticisms and analyzes have pointed out his lack of reaction and a potential electoral desire, among the most conservative.
The sale of socks bearing the name “Allah” was followed by a strong reaction from the King of Malaysia. It was the sovereign himself who had requested “ strict measures » against the managers of the store chain concerned. After their indictment on Tuesday, the king called not to exploit the controversy following a first attack on a store in the state of Perak.
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