Franz Magnis Suseno acknowledges Dipo'€™s remark

Catholic priest Rev. Franz Magnis Suseno SJ said he could comprehend Cabinet secretary Dipo Alam'€™s latest remark '€” that he was a narrow-minded person who had created bad publicity about the country because of his protest of the US-based Appeal Conscience Foundation (ACF)'€™s plan to award President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

'€œIt is his right to give statement as well as to defend the President regarding this matter,'€ Franz said as quoted by tempo.co on Wednesday.

Franz had sent a letter to the ACF criticizing the plan to award Yudhoyono for upholding religious freedom within the country during his presidential tenures. The reverend said that Yudhoyono, in his eight-an-a-half-years as President, had never apologized to the religious minorities whose rights were taken away for various reasons.(dic)