Tag: Ahok

Ahok to stay in jail, Indonesian Supreme Court rules

March 28, 2018 Indonesia Ahok, Blasphemy, Indonesia, Islamic extremism, Jakarta, Quran

Jakarta’s former governor 'Ahok' is scheduled to be released from prison on 24 January. (Photo: Open Doors International)

Indonesia’s Supreme Court has rejected an appeal by the Christian former governor of Jakarta to review his conviction for insulting Islam, reports Reuters. The ruling means Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, better known as “Ahok”, will serve out his two-year prison sentence for suggesting a passage from the Quran had been misinterpreted . . . Read More

Ahok ‘victim of cyber jihad against Indonesian government’

March 13, 2018 Indonesia Ahok, Blasphemy, Islamic extremism, Jakarta, Nahdlatul Ulama, Southeast Asia

Jakarta's governor arrives in court for his verdict and sentence in his blasphemy trial. Photo: Getty Images

The Christian former governor of Jakarta who was jailed for blasphemy may have been a victim of a sophisticated anti-government campaign of “fake news” and malicious bots. Indonesian police believe they have uncovered a clandestine “fake news” operation designed to destabilise the government and corrupt the political process, the UK’s . . . Read More

Indonesia: Ahok’s appeal ‘last chance’ to clear name

February 26, 2018 Indonesia Ahok, Blasphemy, Indonesia, Jakarta, Java

appeal hearing is taking place on Monday (26 February). (Photo: Agoes Rudianto /Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)

A first appeal hearing in the blasphemy case of the Christian former governor of Jakarta was held today (26 February) in what could prove his only chance to challenge the verdict. Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, better known as “Ahok”, has asked the Supreme Court for a review of the two-year prison . . . Read More

Indonesia: Ahok asks Supreme Court to review his blasphemy sentence

February 21, 2018 Indonesia Ahok, Blasphemy, Indonesia, Islamic Defenders Front, Java

The Christian former Governor of Jakarta has appealed his blasphemy conviction to Indonesia’s Supreme Court A court spokesman said on 20 February that it had received a request for judicial review from Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama, who was sentenced in May 2017 in connection with a video in which he . . . Read More

Indonesia church attacker acted alone, police say

February 15, 2018 Indonesia Ahok, Bogor, Churches, GKI Yasmin, Human rights, Indonesia, Islamic extremism, Java, Joko Widodo, Nahdlatul Ulama, Protestants, Religious freedom, Sulawesi, Yogyakarta

Altar of the Stasi Kinali Catholic Church, West-Sumatra, Indonesia, which was attacked in May 2014. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

The man accused of injuring four people in an attack on an Indonesian church on Sunday morning (11 February) acted alone and obtained the weapon – a one-metre-long sword – in exchange for his mobile phone, police say. The suspect, a 23-year-old student identified as Suliyono from Bayuwangi in East . . . Read More

Indonesia sees reduction in religious freedom violations

January 24, 2018 Indonesia Ahok, Churches, Indonesia, Indonesian Ulema Council, Islamic Defenders Front, Jakarta, Java, Pentecostals, Religious freedom

In 2010, Bogor’s GKI Yasmin church was sealed and padlocked by order of the mayor and city government. They still hold Sunday services outside the church, and stage monthly services outside Indonesia’s Presidential Palace.. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

Indonesia saw fewer violations of religious freedom in 2017 than the year before, a national human rights group said this week, although it said it remained concerned about “the politicisation of religious and social differences”. In its ‘2017 Report on Religious Freedom and Religious Minorities in Indonesia’, the Setara Institute . . . Read More

Indonesian archbishop calls for ‘national unity’

January 10, 2018 Indonesia Ahok, Indonesia, Islamic extremism, Jakarta

Mass protests during Ahok's trial where Islamic hardliners called for his imprisonment. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

In his New Year’s message the Archbishop of Jakarta has called for “national unity” in Indonesia after a year that saw religious and political divisions deepen. In his letter, Bishop Ignatius Suharyo Hardjoatmodjo urged Catholics “to deepen [their] understanding of the state philosophy – national unity – as embodied in . . . Read More

Indonesian Christians oppose new Jakarta Governor’s Christmas event

December 19, 2017 Indonesia Ahok, Blasphemy, Indonesia, Jakarta

The Council of Churches in Indonesia has opposed a Christmas event organised by Jakarta’s new Islamist governor, reports Asia News. Anies Baswedan had invited Christians to the ‘Celebration of Christmas’ being held at the National Monument (Monas), a tower in central Jakarta that symbolises the country’s struggle for independence. Monas . . . Read More

Indonesia church leader charged with blasphemy

December 14, 2017 Indonesia Ahok, Blasphemy, Education, Human rights, Indonesia, Islamic extremism, Java, Joko Widodo, Muhammadiyah, Religious freedom, Southeast Asia, Tangerang, Youth

Inside a church in Indonesia. Villagers in Central Java requested the top of a burial cross to be cut before a Catholic was to be buried in what is a public cemetery but is regarded by Muslim groups as 'their' graveyard. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

An Indonesian church leader has been charged with blasphemy – the first case of its kind in the country – and could face five years in prison. Rev. Abraham Ben Moses, 52, was arrested and detained last week in his home town of Tangerang, Java, 25 km west of the capital, . . . Read More

Indonesia: Vote only for Muslims in 2018/19, say hardliners

December 6, 2017 Indonesia Ahok, Indonesia, Islamic Defenders Front

Hardline Islamic leaders have called on Indonesians to vote only for Muslim candidates at the regional and presidential elections over the next two years, reports UCA News. Indonesia needs leaders “who can defend Islam and make sure Islamic teachings are applied… We don’t want people like Ahok [the Christian former . . . Read More

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