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Rights groups call for the release of Madura Shiite cleric

(Antara/Saiful Bahri) Human rights groups have called for the release of Shiite cleric Tajul Muluk who was sentenced to two years for blasphemy against Islam

The Jakarta Post
Jakarta
Tue, July 17, 2012

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Rights groups call for the release of Madura Shiite cleric

(Antara/Saiful Bahri)

Human rights groups have called for the release of Shiite cleric Tajul Muluk who was sentenced to two years for blasphemy against Islam.

The human rights groups which formed the Alliance for the Sampang Case Solidarity said that there had been a miscarriage of justice during the legal process against Tajul.

“By allowing the court to send Tajul Muluk to prison, the government is not only ignoring religious intolerance but actively violating religious freedom in the country,” Febionesta of the Jakarta Legal Aid Foundation (LBH-Jakarta) said on Monday.

Tajul Muluk was sentenced by the Sampang District court on July 12, after presiding judge Purnomo Amin Tjahjo declared him guilty of blasphemy against Islam.

Tajul, who had his house and pesantren (boarding school) burned down by an angry mob in December last year, was accused of preaching to his followers that the Koran was not the original scripture and the true version of the Holy Book is only revealed to Imam Mahdi.

Responding to the verdict, Tajul insisted he was a victim of slander and vowed to appeal to higher courts.

“This is about my dignity. I am not an infidel. I have videotaped evidence that this trial was fabricated for political ends,” the 39-year-old preacher said.

The verdict on Tajul came only weeks after a court in West Sumatra sentenced Alexander Aan, a self-proclaimed atheist, to two-and-a-half years in prison for blasphemy.

Members of the coalition, which include the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), Jakarta Legal Aid Foundation (LBH-Jakarta) and the Human Rights Working Group (HRWG), criticized the court proceeding as being engineered.

The group claimed that the presiding judge in the case ignored testimony from 16 witnesses who testified that Tajul was using the same Koran that has been approved by the Religious Affairs Ministry.

“We are concerned about the impact of the court’s decision. It will deal a blow to religious freedom in Indonesia,” Sinung Karto of Kontras said.

The coalition said that it would file an appeal against the verdict and closely monitor the next court proceedings to ensure that justice is done.

Choirul Anam of HRWG said that as a member of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), Indonesia must ensure that the Shiite community can practice their faith peacefully in the country.

“Iran is also a member of OIC and has a large populations who subscribe to Shia. How can Indonesia build relationships with other members of OIC if the government fails to make sure Shiite groups can live and worship peacefully in this country?” Choirul said.

In May, the government delivered a report to the United Nations Human Rights Commission summit in Geneva, Switzerland, claiming that Indonesia is an open, tolerant and democratic society.

Last week, the Constitutional Court chief Mahfud MD told visiting German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Tuesday that people were free to adhere to atheism and communism and could only be punished if they set up an organization that acted against the country’s ideology.

Choirul said that the decision to imprison Tajul indicated government inconsistency in protecting religious freedom in the country.

“Clearly, the government did not practice what they preach,” said Anam. (nad)

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