Bogor mayor told to obey MA ruling on GKI Yasmin case

Commenting on the Bogor Mayor Diani Budiarto's ongoing contempt of a Supreme Court order to allow the Taman Yasmin Indonesian Christian Church (GKI) to operate, a Bogor NGO says it expects a change soon.

“The ruling is very clear about this. The mayor is expected to execute the ruling immediately,” Peace Loving West Bogor People's Forum coordinator Khatimi Bahari said Sunday as quoted by tempointeraktif.com.

Khatimi also commented on the mayor’s plan to provide Rp 3.5 billion in compensation to the church congregation to move their church to another location, saying it would be better to allocate these funds to the needy.

Bogor Mayor Diani Budiarto has faced mounting local and international criticism for his move to forbid the GKI Taman Yasmin congregation from attend services at the premises, citing that they did not have a legal permit to do so.

The congregation took the matter to the Supreme Court, which issued ruling in their favor. The court said the church had a legal permit and thus instructed the mayor to allow the church to operate. Until now, however, Diani has ignored the court order.