Indonesia Sentences 41 Christian To Imprisonment

It is reported that an Indonesian court has sentenced 41 Christian to five years imprisonment on charges of blasphemy:-

JAKARTA, INDONESIA (BosNewsLife)-- An Indonesian court has sentenced 41 Christian leaders to five years imprisonment on charges of blasphemy because they openly prayed that Muslims "come to know Christ," local Christians and a well-informed human rights group told BosNewsLife Thursday, November 1.

Voice Of the Martyrs (VOM) Australia said the Christians, who are linked to the international mission group Campus Crusade for Christ participated in a December, 2006, prayer gathering in the Indonesian province of East Java.

"During this time they prayed for their nation asking that all Muslim leaders come to know Christ. Video footage of this prayer meeting was filmed and was leaked to a Muslim organization," VOM Australia said.

The organization quoted local sources as saying that the 41 believers "have been found guilty of abusing the Koran," seen as a holy book by Muslims. "The judge sentenced them to five years in prison". Their lawyers are planning to appeal the sentence in East Java High Court in Surabaya, VOM Australia added.

MUSLIM AUTHORITY

A top official from Indonesia highest Muslim authority, the Majelis Ulama Indonesia (MUI) told reporters earlier that in total 60 Christians were being sought in connection with the production of a video of the prayer gathering which allegedly contained anti-Islamic sentiments.

"We don't want revenge but only justice," MUI MUI official Muhammad Nidzom Hidayatullah was quoted as saying by Italian news agency Adnkronos International (AKI).

Indonesia has, in recent years, been the site of many violent Muslim-Christian confrontations. The province of Sulawesi was the scene of a bloody religious war in 2001-2002 that killed around 1000 people from both communities.

The Christian-Muslim conflict in Sulawesi was an extension of a wider sectarian war in the nearby Maluku archipelago in which up to 9000 perished between 1999 and 2002.

The violence in the Maluku archiplago (once known as The Spice Islands) was reported by John Mark Ministries as follows:-

The Maluku region of Eastern Indonesia (formerly the Spice Islands) was once predominantly Christian, as was the West Papua region. However, President Suharto's transmigration policy greatly changed their demographics by encouraging Javanese Muslims to migrate to these less densely populated areas. Despite some discontent, Christians, Muslims and Hindus co-existed peacefully. In Maluku, however, this peace came to an end during Ramadan, January 1999.

. . .

When the Islamic parties failed in the June 1999 elections, they joined in with those keen to discredit and bring down the democratically elected government. In mid 2000, thousands of Laskar Jihad militants arrived in Maluku, well armed and supported by elements of the Indonesian military. By the time 8,000 people had died and half a million had become refugees in Maluku, President Wahid was gone and Megawati Sukarnoputri remained mainly by favour of Islamic parties. For some, this was mission accomplished!

. . .

After Friday prayers on 26 April [2002], Thalib urged some 5,000 Muslims outside the Al-Fatah Mosque in Ambon to rally together in holy war against the Christians. He said, 'From today, we will no longer talk about reconciliation. Our ... focus now must be preparing for war - ready your guns, spears and daggers.' At 3:45am on Sunday 28 April, black-masked, heavily armed Islamic militants entered the Christian village of Soya (near Ambon city) as the people slept. They moved from house to house, killing up to 21 people by stabbing, decapitation or burning them alive, as well as wounding many more. Thirty homes and a Christian church were also incinerated. Whilst some attackers were seen with assault rifles and wearing military fatigues, the army denies any involvement.

This is just the tip of the iceberg as far as Islamic persecution of minorities in Indonesia is concerned. The main victims have been the ethnic Chinese minority and Christians.