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Blasphemy convictions rampant under SBY administration

The number of blasphemy cases soared during former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s era, leaving a lot of work to do for the new government in protecting religious freedom

Hans Nicholas Jong (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Sat, November 22, 2014

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Blasphemy convictions rampant under SBY administration

T

he number of blasphemy cases soared during former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono'€™s era, leaving a lot of work to do for the new government in protecting religious freedom.

During his time in office from 2004-1014, 106 individuals were convicted under blasphemy laws, some of them being imprisoned for five years, according to a report by Amnesty International launched on Friday. Nine of the convicts are still in prison.

'€œThese numbers themselves paint a vivid picture. Even if the Blasphemy Law has been enacted since 1965, and is also included in the Criminal Code [KUHP], it was rarely used until 2004, when Yu-dhoyono took office and convictions under the blasphemy law skyrocketed,'€ said Rupert Abbott, Amnesty International'€™s South East Asia and Pacific Research director.

In comparison, only around 10 people were prosecuted and convicted of blasphemy during the Soeharto regime from 1968 to 1998.

'€œIndonesia'€™s blasphemy laws fly in the face of international law and standards and must be repealed urgently,'€ Abbott said, referring to Law No. 5/1969 and Article 156 (a) of the KUHP.

In 2009, a coalition of NGOs and several prominent individuals lodged a judicial review with the Constitutional Court arguing the Blasphemy Law contravened the right to religious freedom as provided in for articles 28E and 29 of the Constitution.

The court, however, upheld the validity of the law on the grounds of '€œpublic order'€ and '€œreligious values'€ in Article 28J (2) of the Constitution.

'€œThey are all prisoners of conscience and should be released immediately and unconditionally,'€ Abbott said, citing Tajul Muluk as an example.

Tajul is a Shia Muslim religious leader from East Java who is currently serving a four-year sentence after the local police in Sampang launched a blasphemy case against him in 2012.

He was sentenced to two years in prison. Later it was extended to four years.

Most of Tajul'€™s followers are still barred from returning to their homes, with the government citing safety reasons but doing little to provide comprehensive solution.

Tajul is an example of how blasphemy cases are mostly lodged at the local level, where political actors, hard-line Islamic religious groups and security personnel often collude to target minorities.

Abbott said that the surge in blasphemy prosecutions should be seen in a wider context in which respect for freedom of religion had deteriorated.

Abbott added that hat releasing the nine prisoners '€œwould be a good start for President Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo and it '€œwould send a powerful message to people'€.

'€œIt'€™s been encouraging to hear the President making human rights commitments, but now is the time to deliver and put those words into action,'€ he said.

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