M

embers of the Taman Yasmin Indonesian Christian Church (GKI) performed their Sunday service under the watchful eyes of the Bogor Police, who earlier managed to stave off troublemakers from local vigilante groups who tried to disrupt their mass.

Members of the Bogor Police arrived early in the morning to erect roadblocks at sections of Jl. KH Abdullah Bin Nuh to keep back members of local Muslim groups, who had pledged to evict GKI Yasmin congregation members from their place of worship.

Bogor Police chief of operations Comr. Irwansyah said a 600-meter section of the road was closed and was divided into two in order to separate more than 250 local Muslim protesters and more than 30 members of GKI Yasmin who performed their Sunday service in front of a car dealership office.

“We were trying to prevent the two groups from clashing, otherwise the Sunday service could not have taken place,” he said.

Earlier, members of the GKI Yasmin congregation were harassed while trying to conduct holy communion. Violence again broke out last week when Bogor public order officers allegedly tried to grab a church minister who was about to lead the Sunday service.

Bogor Public Order Agency head Bambang Budianto was injured in the incident and had to be rushed to a nearby hospital.

Following the incident, Bambang filed a report with the Bogor Police against GKI member Jayadi Damanik over alleged misconduct.

Jayadi followed suit by filing a complaint with the police.

On Sunday, the GKI Yasmin congregation managed to perform a two-hour service under police guard.

Members of Muslim groups, some of whom donned Muslim garb, arrived as early as 4 a.m. and proceeded to patrol the area.

They called on GKI Yasmin members to stop conducting their Sunday service on the street, and encouraged them to worship in a new location provided by the Bogor municipal government.

Some among the group were concerned over the disruption to public order that the Sunday service had caused.

“We don’t want to prohibit them from performing their religious service. We just don’t want them to use public facilities as it will disrupt order,” said Agus, one of the protesters.

The protest wrapped up at 11:30 a.m. soon after the Sunday service had ended.

The Yasmin congregation reiterated their stance that the Bogor municipal administration must reopen the church soon.

“We hope the government does not bow to their [Muslim groups] request. We have a solid legal foundation for the construction of the church with the Supreme Court ruling and a decision made by the Ombudsman,” GKI Yasmin spokesman Bona Sigalingging said.

The Yasmin church has been sealed off by the Bogor adminisitration since 2008, despite a Supreme Court ruling last year, which upheld the legality of the church. Members of the church have held Sunday services on the sidewalk in front of the church’s construction site ever since.