Faith
Under Fire...
Indonesian Christians protest over intimidation attacks
AFP
Indonesian Christians held a prayer vigil in Jakarta on Sunday
urging President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to re-open their church
and stop intimidation by Muslim hardliners.
About 200 people, mostly members of the Taman Yasmin Indonesian
Christian Church, prayed and sang hymns outside the state palace.
"We hope the president will protect us from harassment by radical
groups and re-open the church which is legally ours so we can
conduct worship," the group's spokeswoman Dwiati Novita Rini told
AFP.
The Christians have been forced to hold services on the pavement
outside their church in Bogor city, south of Jakarta, after its
permit was revoked in 2008, Rini said.
"But the Supreme Court overturned the decision in December 2010
and ordered for the church to be re-opened. The Bogor city
administration however refused to comply," she added.
The congregation has since moved their weekly service to a house
near a church but faced intimidation and verbal abuse from Muslim
hardliners, Rini said.
"A few dozen would harass us every weekend. But last Sunday,
hundreds intimidated us with sticks and rocks and shouted at us to
leave," she added.
Although the constitution explicitly guarantees freedom of
religion and the country of some 240 million people, laws make it
difficult for faiths other than Islam to establish houses of
worship.
Rights groups say religious intolerance is on the rise in
Indonesia, which has the world's biggest Muslim majority, citing
the persecution of the minority Muslim Ahmadiyah sect and the
torching of churches.
Amnesty International last Wednesday called on the government to
guarantee the safety of the congregation and conduct "prompt,
independent and impartial" investigations into reports of
intimidation.
It also urged the government to ensure the Bogor city authorities
immediately comply with the court's ruling to re-open the church.