Tag: Java

Indonesia: Cutting of burial cross in public cemetery ‘against constitution’

December 21, 2018 Indonesia Burial, Crosses, Indonesia, Java, Religious freedom

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)

The removal of a cross on the grave of a Catholic before he could be buried in an Indonesian public cemetery has been condemned by the country’s church leaders, reports the Catholic news agency UCAN. Albertus Slamet Sugihardi died in the village of Purbayan, in the province of Central Java. . . . Read More

Indonesia: Three churches closed in permits dispute

October 3, 2018 Indonesia Banten, Churches, Indonesia, Islamic Defenders Front, Java, Minorities, Sumatra

Officials close and seal the doors of the Assemblies of God church in West Kenali village, Sumatra, who have been meeting since 2004. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

Three churches were closed in an Indonesian village last week amidst rumours Muslims were planning to protest against the churches’ presence because they did not have the required permits. But a pastor from one of the affected churches in West Kenali village, Alam Barajo district, in Sumatra’s central Jambi province, . . . Read More

Indonesia’s religious minorities protest against closure of worship places

August 1, 2018 Indonesia Banten, Bekasi, Bogor, Catholics, Churches, GKI Yasmin, HKBP Filadelfia, Indonesia, Java, Minorities, Tangerang

Indonesian Christians and Ahmadiyya Muslims gathered together in West Java over the weekend to protest against the closure of several of their places of worship, Catholic news agency UCAN reports. Over 100 people took part in a range of events, including the sharing of personal stories of discrimination. The participants . . . Read More

Indonesian rights body to release anti-sectarian guidelines ahead of elections

July 23, 2018 Indonesia Ahok, Elections, Human rights, Indonesia, Islamic extremism, Java, Joko Widodo

Young people join protests against the former Christian Jakarta governor Ahok who was convicted of blasphemy in May last year. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

Indonesia’s Human Rights Commission is to propose guidelines to avoid sectarian clashes in the run-up to next year’s national elections, reports Catholic news site UCAN. Ahead of recent regional elections, some hardline Islamic leaders called on Indonesians to vote only for Muslim candidates. Sectarianism also played a prominent role in . . . Read More

Indonesia appoints ‘incisive’ Muslim leader in attempt to combat extremism

July 2, 2018 Indonesia Indonesia, Islamic extremism, Islamic State, JAD, Java, Nahdlatul Ulama, Surabaya

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)

The appointment of one of the Muslim world’s “most incisive and outspoken reformers” to Indonesia’s Presidential Advisory Council signals a shift in how Indonesia is trying to combat extremism, according to religious freedom professor Paul Marshall. In May Indonesia was rocked by a number of suicide bombings orchestrated by Jamaah . . . Read More

Indonesia approves new anti-terrorism law after Surabaya church bombings

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

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 bombings ‘did not come as a surprise’

May 14, 2018 Indonesia Indonesia, Islamic extremism, JAD, Java, Joko Widodo, Nahdlatul Ulama, Sulawesi, Sumatra, Surabaya

As details emerge of the shocking tactics used in the two sets of bomb attacks in Indonesia over the last 48 hours, a regional analyst has said he was not surprised by the apparent Islamist motive. “Just a few weeks before the attacks, the government published a study, according to . . . 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

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

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

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