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'Where are our rights?': Church congregation in Riau plead as Sunday service dispersed
While the service was still ongoing, Public Order Agency (Satpol PP) officers suddenly arrived and attempted to stop the pastor from delivering his sermon.
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Solemn service: Members of the Filadelfia Congregation of Batak Protestant Churches (HKBP Filadelfia) gather for Sunday service outside their sealed church in Jejalen Jaya village in North Tambun, Bekasi, West Java, on Feb. 7, 2010. (The Jakarta Post/R. Berto Wedhatama)
T
he state of Indonesia’s religious freedom has come into the spotlight once again after local authorities broke up a Sunday service held by the Indonesian Pentecostal Church (GPdI) in Keritang sub-district, Indragiri Hilir regency in Riau.
Activists and religious figures have lambasted the forced dispersal, arguing that it violated the constitutional rights of the citizens and their freedom of worship, which should be protected by both regional administrations and the central government.
The church service attended by the GPdI Efata congregation in Petalongan village on Sunday was carried out under a make-shift tent near the church’s building, which is also the house of the church’s pastor, Damianus Sinaga.
While the service was still ongoing, Public Order Agency (Satpol PP) officers suddenly arrived and attempted to stop the pastor from delivering his sermon.
A video that made the rounds on the internet showed that tension escalated after Damianus refused to halt the service, saying "We are praying", and requesting the officers to discuss the matter with him after the service ended.
Footage from the scene also showed members of the congregation begging the Satpol PP not to halt the service, with many of them screaming “Help us Pak Jokowi,” in reference to President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo.
“Help us, sir, we are just trying to pray and worship our God, we are Indonesian citizens, where are our rights?” a woman in the congregation pleaded with an officer as shown in the video.
