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| Down Under |
| Muslims 'covered up sex claim' |
| 2006-05-15 |
| AUSTRALIA'S peak Muslim body has been accused of covering up a sex scandal after a senior worker allegedly downloaded pornography and sexually harassed two women at the organisation's head office. The Australian Federation of Islamic Councils, which is a key adviser to the Federal Government and upholds Muslim standards in the community, was forced to issue a directive to staff that pornography - strictly forbidden in the Koran - should not be accessed at work. But the worker at the centre of the claims - believed to include lewd language, touching female staff and the downloading of porn images at work in front of women - is still employed by the organisation. And AFIC executives agreed, at a special meeting to discuss the claims by two women, that the matter be buried. "It was unanimously resolved that this matter be expunged from the normal minutes of the exco (executive committee) meeting and the details retained in the confidential files of AFIC," the minutes to the July 31, 2004, meeting say. Two internal investigators were asked to examine the claims, but the accusations went no further. AFIC's senior legal adviser, Haset Sali, denied yesterday that there was a cover-up. "It was a matter that I dealt with in confidence and all the parties concerned asked that the matter be treated as such," he said. "It was satisfactorily resolved from the point of view of all parties. No one expressed any disappointment." However, former AFIC president Ameer Ali, who heads the Prime Minister's Muslim advisory group, said the women were worried the scandal could hurt them. "They were afraid it would affect their family life," he said. The man at the centre of the claims, who worked for the council and its schools, allegedly downloaded pornographic material at AFIC's head office at Zetland in Sydney, and exposed two female colleagues to it. He is alleged to have made suggestive remarks to the staff members, one of whom was a newly married woman who has since left the organisation. The other woman, a traditionally dressed Muslim, still works for the Islamic body. Ikebal Patel, who was AFIC treasurer at the time of the allegations, threatened to make them public unless the executive committee organised a special meeting to thrash out the issues. "I was very forthright in saying if you don't discuss this in a meeting, then I'm going to bring this out in public," he said. The minutes obtained by The Australian reveal that AFIC chief executive Amjad Mehboob issued a directive to his staff following the allegations, prohibiting the downloading and circulation of pornography. "It was decided in the meeting that the CEO, on behalf of the president, was to issue a directive to all staff of AFIC and its subsidiaries that access, downloading or transmittal of any pornographic material whilst on AFIC-controlled property would be regarded as a serious breach of discipline and could result in instant dismissal from employment," the document says. Mr Patel said he produced and circulated a code of conduct to AFIC's executive board about computer usage, but the code was never implemented. "Nobody gave any respect or wished to implement it," he said. Islamic Friendship Association of Australia president Keysar Trad said pornography was condemned in the Koran because it endorsed the exploitation of women. |
| Posted by:Oztralian |
| #1 Tramps!!! |
| Posted by: Danking70 2006-05-15 20:58 |