Blasphemy Sentence Sparks Riot

February 9 | Posted by mrossol | Politically correct, Radical Islam, Religious Persecution

Blasphemy Sentence Sparks Riot – WSJ.com.

I don’t hear any voices in the [liberal] West condemning the violence…

======

JAKARTA—Hundreds of protesters burned churches and attacked a courthouse in central Indonesia Tuesday after a Christian convicted of blasphemy against Islam was given what they considered a lenient sentence. The rioting was the latest in a string of incidents that’s raising fears about the influence of radical Islamic groups in a country aggressively trying to position itself as one of the world’s fastest-growing—and most stable—emerging markets.

Antonius Richmond Bawengan, 58, was sentenced to five years in prison for handing out leaflets and books that “spread hatred about Islam.” Many of the Islamic hardliners who had gathered near the Temanggung District Court in central Java for the verdict wanted the death penalty, though five years is the maximum sentence.

Blasphemy Case Sets Off Riot

After angry protesters tried to grab Mr. Bawengan as he was taken from court, the police fired warning shots into the air. The crowd then spread through the neighborhood, setting fire to two churches and a police vehicle and throwing rocks at a third church.

“That’s not the voice of most Indonesian Muslims,” said Komaruddin Hidayat, an Islamic scholar and rector of State Islamic University in Jakarta. “That’s just a minor voice from an emerging radical group.”

Even so, worries have spread in recent months that an Islamic fringe in the world’s fourth-most populous nation is becoming increasingly vocal and violent. While the Southeast Asian nation of 240 million has long been considered moderate and secular, a small but influential hard-line minority often seeks to impose its will.

Radical Turn

Feb. 8, 2011 Protestors attack churches and a courthouse after a Christian is given a sentence for blasphemy against Islam they consider lenient.
Feb. 6, 2011
A mob kills three members of the Ahmadiyah sect, a small Muslim group considered heretical by some other Muslims.
Jan. 31, 2011
Rock star Nazril “Ariel” Irham is sentenced to 3½ years in prison for not doing enough to keep his homemade sex video off the Internet.
Sept. 12, 2010
A Christian leader is stabbed on the vacant lot in West Java where he planned to build a church opposed by radical groups.

Citizens, politicians and human-rights activists were already calling for Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to do more to rein in radical groups after a mob in central Indonesia attacked the home of a leader of an unpopular Muslim sect over the weekend, killing three people. A fourth person from the Ahmadiyah Muslim sect, which some Indonesian Muslims consider heretical because it believes its founder was a prophet, died from his injuries from the attack on Tuesday, according to Antara News, an Indonesian state news agency.

There were 286 attacks against Christians, members of the Ahmadiyah sect and other religious minorities last year, according to Setara Institute, a Jakarta-based human rights organization, an increase of more than 50% from three years earlier.

Also, a pop star was sentenced last week to 3½ years in jail for making sex tapes that triggered a national outcry and a public debate about morals in Indonesia. The stiff sentence for the 29-year-old Nazril “Ariel” Irham, lead singer in a popular rock band, was decried by many human-rights groups, analysts and some residents as an example of hard-liners’ bullying the country.

Some analysts warn that the increasingly heavy-handed tactics by conservative groups show that President Yudhoyono—who has touted the country’s emergence as a rising economic power in Asia—could be losing his grip, or at least has grown unwilling to speak out against hard-liners for fear of upsetting any more-moderate Muslims who quietly sympathize with the conservative groups’ aims. Although Indonesia remains a favorite among emerging-market investors, further outbreaks of violence could dent confidence.

“The incidents show President Yudhoyono’s ineffective and weak governance,” said Mr. Hidayat. “People don’t believe in the supremacy of law, so they take justice into their own hands.”

Teuku Faiza, a spokesman for the president, said that differing views and protests are part of any democracy. “This is not proof that the government is weak or inefficient,” he said of Tuesday’s rioting. “It is not the responsibility of just the government, it is also the job of religious and social leaders to promote harmony.”

—Yayu Yuniar contributed to this article.

Share

Leave a Reply

Verified by ExactMetrics