http://www.compassdirect.org/english/country/indonesia/article_112397.html Indonesian ‘Blasphemy’ Law a Weapon for Radical Islam
Indonesia's blasphemy laws contribute to a climate of impunity that leads to attacks on Christians such as the Rev. Luspida Simanjuntak, struck with a wooden plank by suspected Islamic extremists on Sept. 12, 2010.
Indonesia's blasphemy laws contribute to a climate of impunity that leads to attacks on Christians such as the Rev. Luspida Simanjuntak, struck with a wooden plank by suspected Islamic extremists on Sept. 12, 2010. (Photo: Compass)
Rarely-used law in ‘moderate’ nation could provide alternate force against Christians.
DUBLIN, May 12 (CDN) — On Feb. 6 in Indonesia, Muslim hardliners armed with machetes brutally murdered three members of a “blasphemous†Muslim sect in the village of Cikeusik, West Java. Five other members escaped with severe injuries; police were present but did not intervene.
The attack followed two years of violence sparked by a June 2008 Joint Ministerial Decree banning public worship for the Ahmadiyah, whose members believe that their founder, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, was the last prophet of Islam, rather than Muhammad.
On Feb. 8, a large mob gathered outside a courthouse in Temanggung, Central Java, chanting “Kill, kill!†after judges awarded Antonius Richmond Bawengan, a Roman Catholic, the maximum five-year sentence for blasphemy. By nightfall some 1,000 people had rampaged through the town burning vehicles, two churches and a church-run school, injuring nine people in the process. (See
www.compassdirect.org, “After Attacks, Christian Leaders in Indonesia Decry Lax Security,†Feb. 11.)
Three days later, prosecutors in Jakarta sentenced Murhali Barda, a regional leader of the hardline Front Pembela Islam (FPI or Islamic Defenders Front) to only five-and-a-half months in prison and fined him the equivalent of 10 US cents for orchestrating an attack on a Protestant church in which two Christians were seriously injured. (See
www.compassdirect.org, “Light Sentences for Attack on Christians in Indonesia Condemned,†March 10.)
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http://www.compassdirect.org/english/country/indonesia/article_112397.html
