Christian Governor of Jakarta, Indonesia Sentenced to 2 Years in Prison ‘For Blaspheming the Quran’

“An Indonesian court sentenced the minority Christian governor of Jakarta to two years in prison on Tuesday for blaspheming the Quran, a jarring ruling that undermines the reputation of the world’s largest Muslim nation for practicing a moderate form of Islam,” the Washington Post reported on Tuesday. In announcing its decision, the five-judge panel said Gov. Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama was “convincingly proven guilty of blasphemy” and ordered his arrest. He was taken to Cipinang Prison in east Jakarta. At the court, supporters of the governor wept and hugged each other amid shouts of jubilation from members of conservative Islamic groups. Photos quickly appeared online of Ahok, who still commands immense popularity in Jakarta, the capital, being warmly greeted by prison staff. Ahok said he would appeal, but it was unclear if he would be released once that process is underway. By early evening, hundreds of angry supporters had gathered at the high-security prison, some pushing hard against a tall metal gate and others setting a tire alight. “Brothers and sisters, justice has died in this country,” said a man addressing the crowd with a megaphone.   The stunning sentence flies in the face of recent claims by some Indonesian…

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There is Nothing ‘Moderate’ About Female Genital Mutilation in Indonesia

According to Dr. Meiwita Budiharsana, a lecturer and Faculty of Public Health at the University of Indonesia: Around 60 million women, or half of the women in Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim majority, is estimated to have undergone FGM. According to data collated by UNICEF, between 2010 – 2015, forty-nine percent of girls in Indonesia up to age fourteen have been mutilated with continuing strong support from religious leaders and parents. While visiting Indonesia last week Vice-President Pence, characterized the Muslim-majority country as following a “tradition of moderate Islam [which] is frankly an inspiration to the world and we commend you and your people.”   The Indonesian government tried to ban FGM in 2006 but the influential Indonesian Ulema Council, the country’s top Islamic religious organization, issued a fatwa (an authoritative ruling on Islamic law) that what they refer to as “female circumcision,” was part of a “strongly recommended” religious practice although not compulsory. According to Huzaemah Yanggo, the vice-president of the council’s fatwa commission: The MUI met with the health ministry, and explained that banning female circumcision was against human rights, and sharia law. The government says FGM in Indonesia is merely “tradition” the term typically used to refer to…

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Pence Optimism About Islam And Indonesia Misplaced

Mike Pence

  by George Rasley, ConservativeHQ.com Editor During Vice President Mike Pence’s recent visit to Indonesia he praised Indonesia for its “tradition of modern Islam.” We wish that the Vice President’s remarks reflected reality, but our experience living and working in Indonesia tells us that the Vice President’s optimism that a secular Indonesia will serve as a bulwark against Islamism spreading through Southeast Asia is misplaced and based more on wishful thinking by American Pence in Indonesia policymakers than it is on fact and history. When the Dutch arrived as colonial conquers, Islam was already firmly established in Sumatra and a Muslim dynasty had just completed the conquest of the Hindu kingdoms of Java, the largest and most populous island in the Indonesian archipelago of some 17,508 islands, of which 922 are permanently inhabited. The colonial wars that followed slowed, but did not stop the advance of Islam through the islands, which were not a united country, but a series of local fiefdoms and tribal societies. The Dutch made desultory attempts to Christianize Indonesia with missionaries succeeding to convert the majority on some islands, such as Ambon. The Dutch made use of the Ambonese as policemen and advanced other Christian Indonesians in…

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