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Community => Religion and Philosophy => Topic started by: armandtanzarian on June 14, 2012, 12:04:06 pm

Title: Atheist sent to 2.5 years jail for insulting Islam.
Post by: armandtanzarian on June 14, 2012, 12:04:06 pm
http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2012/06/14/minang-atheist-sentenced-25-years-prison.html

Quote
Alexander Aan, 32, a Minang civil servant who was arrested for blasphemy after he declared himself an atheist on a social media website, was sentenced to two years and six months’ imprisonment and a Rp 100 million (US$10,600) fine by the Negeri Muaro District Court in West Sumatra on Thursday.

Presiding judge Eka Prasetya Budi Dharma said Alexander had been proven guilty of defaming Islam and insulting the Prophet Muhammad through his Facebook account and a fan page titled Ateis Minang (Minang Atheist).

...

The judge cited several sentences deemed defamatory, such as Muhammad tertarik kepada menantunya sendiri (Muhammad was attracted to his own daughter-in-law) and Kisah Nabi Muhammad bersenggama dengan babu istrinya (The story of Prophet Muhammad having sexual intercourse with his wife’s maid).

Eka concluded, therefore, that the defendant had violated Article 28 of the Information and Electronic Transaction Law by spreading racial and religious hatred.
Title: Re: Atheist sent to 2.5 years jail for insulting Islam.
Post by: kefkaownsall on June 14, 2012, 12:59:25 pm
Sigh Indonesia I am disappoint.  What I find strange is that honestly most people in Indonesia are not like this.  Are the elections corrupt or something (not saying they are as bad as Malaysia?)
Title: Re: Atheist sent to 2.5 years jail for insulting Islam.
Post by: Witchyjoshy on June 15, 2012, 01:22:18 am
...Is it bad that my first thought was "Only 2.5 years?"

/sigh
Title: Re: Atheist sent to 2.5 years jail for insulting Islam.
Post by: Fpqxz on June 15, 2012, 01:38:14 am
Sigh Indonesia I am disappoint.  What I find strange is that honestly most people in Indonesia are not like this.  Are the elections corrupt or something (not saying they are as bad as Malaysia?)

It isn't so much a matter of electoral corruption, it is more a matter of the Indonesian government having a rather poor track record on human rights, especially with respect to matters of free speech and freedom of religion.

It must be remembered that the civil liberties that we in the West (especially in the USA) take for granted are still rather alien to a good portion of humanity.  And while this situation has been changing since the fall of Communism (see e.g. the Arab Spring, the return of Suu Kyi to Burma, etc.), not all the rulers of countries have yet "gotten the message", so to speak.
Title: Re: Atheist sent to 2.5 years jail for insulting Islam.
Post by: armandtanzarian on June 15, 2012, 10:14:06 am
Sigh Indonesia I am disappoint.  What I find strange is that honestly most people in Indonesia are not like this.  Are the elections corrupt or something (not saying they are as bad as Malaysia?)

It isn't so much a matter of electoral corruption, it is more a matter of the Indonesian government having a rather poor track record on human rights, especially with respect to matters of free speech and freedom of religion.

It must be remembered that the civil liberties that we in the West (especially in the USA) take for granted are still rather alien to a good portion of humanity.  And while this situation has been changing since the fall of Communism (see e.g. the Arab Spring, the return of Suu Kyi to Burma, etc.), not all the rulers of countries have yet "gotten the message", so to speak.
That, and that fundamentalist Islam is much stronger in Indonesia since the fall of Suharto. Indonesia is a sprawling nation with many rural, dirt-poor people for whom a 50cc motorcycle is still a luxury buy, and these are usually the greatest targets for radicalism. And where radicalism exists radical politics exists. Susilo is nominally secular, and so are most urban Indonesians, but as the long spate of abuse suffered by non-Sunni Muslims suggests, there's a lot of extremists there, and the government has pretty much turned a blind eye to them (or even placated them, as in this case).