T

he Supreme Court stressed on Thursday that Bogor mayor Diani Budiarto should obey the court’s ruling to reopen the GKI Taman Yasmin congregation’s church building.

Supreme Court chief justice Harifin Tumpa said the mayor had no excuse for disobeying the court
order. “[The mayor] should obey the rule,” Harifin told reporters in Jakarta.

The local GKI Yasmin Christian congregation has been forced to hold its Sunday service on the sidewalk of Jl. Abdullah Bin Nuh, Bogor, in front of the sealed-off church building, after Diani closed the church last year, an act seen as a defiance of the Supreme Court’s verdict handed down last year.

The church congregation has been threatened with eviction by vigilante groups as well as by the Bogor administration.

Harifin said, “Relocation can only be done if the congregation approves it.”

In July 2006, the Bogor administration decided to freeze the construction permit for the church building.

The Supreme Court issued a verdict on Dec. 9, 2010, overturning the Bogor administration’s request to uphold a lower court decision to close the church.

The administration later called off the freeze, but revoked the construction permit in March this year, saying that there had been a violation in the submission process for the permit.

The Indonesian Ombudsman considered Diani’s evidence irrelevant.

President Susilo Bambang Yu-dhoyono has been urged to show his leadership by resolving the ongoing church permit dispute.

On Wednesday, Adnan Buyung Nasution, a noted lawyer and chief patron of the Indonesian Legal Aid Institute Foundation (YLBHI) urged the President to issue a presidential decree to enforce the Supreme Court decision.

“The government should obey the court decision. The law should be upheld, not the interest of the majority,” Adnan said.

YLBHI is planning to hold a mediation meeting involving the mayor, the Home Ministry, the Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Ministry and the church congregation.

Adnan said that should the mediation fail, the Supreme Court and the police should cooperate and carry out the court’s decision.

On Tuesday, the church congregation sought protection from the Nahdlatul Ulama Executive Board (PBNU). Nahdlatul Ulama is the country’s largest Islamic organization.

Church spokesman Bona Sigalingging told PBNU chairman Said Aqil Siradj that the congregation members were always intimidated and terrorized by radical groups when they worshiped on Sundays.

Earlier this month, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) retracted its political support for Diani, citing his defiance of the Supreme Court ruling.

Following the lead of the PDI-P, the central board of the Golkar Party said it had instructed the party’s Bogor branch to take all necessary constitutional means to settle the dispute.

The Islam-based Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), however, has thrown its support behind Diani.