A

ctivists want the Bogor administration to reopen GKI Taman Yasmin Church, saying there was no legal reason to keep the church shut after the Supreme Court overturned the city’s closure order.

The Jakarta Legal Aid Institute (LBH Jakarta) said that the administration, the Bogor Police and other relevant parties should stop obstructing the GKI Taman Yasmin congregation from performing religious services.

“After they received an official copy of the ruling, they should not take action to prevent members of the GKI Taman Yasmin congregation to conduct prayers inside their own church,” LBH Jakarta lawyer Febi Yonesta said in a press briefing on Tuesday.

After the Supreme Court’s ruling, the police had to protect the congregation from any form of intimidation, Febi said.

The court rejected on Jan. 13 the administration’s request to uphold its decision to shut down the church.

Despite the ruling, members of the congregation have not been able to enter the church since it remained cordoned off by the Bogor police.

The administration claimed that it could not reopen the church because it had not received an official copy of the Supreme Court’s ruling.

The legal battle between the administration and the church began after the city revoked the church’s building permit on Feb. 14, 2008, two years after it had been issued.

The administration cited complaints from local residents about the church’s construction that said the church would be become a hub for proselytizing in the Muslim-majority community. The Bandung administrative court later overturned the administration’s decision.

On Christmas Eve last year, police officers set up a road block near the church after Muslim hard-liners staged a protest against the church.

Members of the congregation performed their Christmas service along the street under the watchful eyes of 1,000 police officers — despite a barrage of verbal abuse from the Muslim protestors.

The Bogor administration is led by Mayor Diani Budiarto, who ran for the post with the backing of the Democratic Party, the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) and several other parties.

Indonesian Christian Church Magistry chairman Rev. Ujang Tanusaputra said that the Supreme Court’s ruling should serve as an impetus for a campaign to uphold the rights of religious minorities in the nation.

“We demand that the state firmly establish the freedom of worship for all citizens without any conditions, consistent with the 1945 Constitution,” Ujang said.

He said that Indonesia could not view itself as part of the global community if it failed to uphold rights of religious minorities.

“As part of the civilized global community, it is mandatory for the state to promote and to protect basic human rights, including the freedom of worship,” he added.