Tag: Aceh

Indonesia approves new anti-terrorism law after Surabaya church bombings

May 30, 2018 Indonesia Aceh, Indonesia, Islamic State, JAD, Java, Surabaya, Terrorism

The Surabaya Pentecostal Church's front yard and remainders of the gate's canopy after the bomb attack on 13 May in which five people died. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

Indonesia’s government has approved a new anti-terrorism law that gives police more freedom to carry out preventative arrests and detain terrorist suspects for longer, as reported by AsiaNews. The proposed changes, which had been under discussion for two years, were approved by parliament on Friday, 25 May, just ten days after the . . . Read More

‘Indonesia’s most important extremist ideologue’ faces death over church bombing

May 2, 2018 Indonesia Aceh, Indonesia, Islamic extremism, Islamic State, JAD, Jakarta, Kalimantan, Samarinda, Terrorism, Trauma

Radical Islamic cleric Aman Abdurrahman tells the court that what happened in Samarinda "violates what I believe about how to behave towards Christians”. (Photo: Hayati Nupus/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)

A Muslim cleric alleged to have inspired an attack on a church playground in Indonesia, in which one child was killed and three injured, has denied inciting hatred. Aman Abdurrahman, 46, is facing a possible life sentence or even the death penalty for allegedly masterminding a series of bombings, including . . . Read More

Indonesia Christians’ whipping a rare example of non-Muslims punished under Sharia

March 2, 2018 Indonesia Aceh, Hijab, Indonesia, Sharia, Sumatra

Two Indonesian Christians were whipped in public earlier this week in Banda Aceh, the capital of the Sumatran province of Aceh, as a crowd took photos and jeered. Dahlan Sili Tongga, 61, and Tjia Nyuk Hwa, 45, were being punished for breaking Sharia (Islamic law) by playing a game at . . . Read More

Protests as Indonesia cracks down on ‘groups that threaten state ideology’

July 17, 2017 Indonesia Aceh, Ahok, Blasphemy, Human rights, Indonesia, Islamic extremism, Joko Widodo

An woman in Indonesia's Banda Aceh gets caning in public from an executor known as 'algojo' for spending time with a man who is not her husband, which is against Sharia law on March 20, 2017. Aceh Province is the only place in the Muslim-majority country which implements the strict version of Sharia Law. In a move to stop the rise of radical Islamist groups, the Indonesian government has adopted a law that will make disbanding such groups easier. (Photo: Getty Images)

In a move that has been severely criticised by civil society organisations, Indonesia on 10 July introduced a new law that allows the government to disband certain groups that threaten the state’s secular ideology. The law comes at a time when Indonesia is facing the increasing influence of hardline Islamist . . . Read More

Injured Indonesian boy, 4, ‘ashamed’ by wounds after 17th operation since November church attack

March 14, 2017 Indonesia Aceh, Bogor, Islamic State, Java, Joko Widodo, Kalimantan, Samarinda, Sumatra

Just over four months ago, on 13 November 2016, a two-year-old girl died after suffering 75% burns during a bomb attack on a church in Indonesia. Three other young children were also injured – Anita (also two), Trinity (three) and Alvaro (four) – during the attack on Oikumene Church in . . . Read More

Indonesian church closed for years told: you can reopen if mosque allowed on your land

February 10, 2017 Indonesia Aceh, Bogor, GKI Yasmin, Indonesia, Jakarta, Java, Joko Widodo, Muhammadiyah, Nahdlatul Ulama, Sharia

UPDATE (10 Feb, 2017): An Indonesian church closed for years by order of the local mayor has been told it can reopen if a mosque is also allowed on its premises. The GKI Yasmin Church in Bogor, 60km south of Jakarta, had resorted to holding open-air services outside the Presidential . . . Read More

Indonesia Christians seek action against Islamists

January 25, 2017 Indonesia Aceh, Ahok, Blasphemy, Indonesia, Islamic Defenders Front, Joko Widodo, Minorities, Sharia

Indonesia’s Christian leaders have urged the country’s president, Joko Widodo, to take action against a radical Islamist group. This comes after a petition called for the disbandment of the group, which is accused of being responsible for a series of violent attacks against Christians. The Christian leaders said the Islamic . . . Read More

2-year-old girl dead after Indonesia church attack

November 15, 2016 Indonesia Aceh, Bogor, Borneo, GKI Yasmin, Indonesia, Joko Widodo, Kalimantan, Muhammadiyah, Nahdlatul Ulama, Samarinda, Sumatra

A two-year-old girl has died after suffering 75% burns following an attack by an alleged Islamic extremist on a church in Borneo, Indonesia, reports ABC News. Ade Intan Marbun was one of four young children injured after a man – apparently identified by police as a 32 year old ex-convict . . . Read More

‘Worship in the woods’ a year after Islamic extremists destroy Aceh churches

November 10, 2016 Indonesia Aceh, Churches, Indonesia, Islamic extremism, Sharia

Churches destroyed a year ago by Islamic extremists and police in Aceh Singkil – a rural ‘regency’ in Indonesia’s only Sharia-ruled province – have still not been rebuilt because of discrimination against Christians by local authorities, say church leaders. However, despite the troubles, church membership is climbing. Hardliners started destroying . . . Read More

Sharia by-law in Indonesia ‘biased against poor’

October 28, 2016 Indonesia Aceh, Indonesia, Sharia, Sumatra

Residents of the Indonesian province of Aceh, in north-western Sumatra, have complained that the implementation of Sharia there appears to disproportionately target people of low status. The Islamic criminal code stipulates punishments such as caning for actions outlawed under Sharia, such as homosexual activity, adultery, drinking alcohol, gambling, rape and . . . Read More

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