Tag: Sumatra

Indonesian Christian governor insists ‘no insult intended’ as ‘blasphemy’ trial begins

December 13, 2016 Indonesia Ahok, Blasphemy, Islamic extremism, Jakarta, Kalimantan, Sumatra

UPDATE (13 Dec.) Indonesian Christian governor, Basuki Tjahaja Purnama (better known as “Ahok”), fought back tears during the first day of his blasphemy trial today (13 Dec.). Ahok – only the second Christian and the second governor of Chinese descent to lead the Indonesian capital city, Jakarta – is alleged to have “misused” . . . Read More

Indonesia’s only Christian governor questioned by police amid ‘blasphemy’ furore

November 29, 2016 Indonesia Ahok, Blasphemy, Islamic extremism, Jakarta, Kalimantan, Sumatra

Basuki Tjahaja Purnama (better known by his nickname, ‘Ahok’), during a re-election speech in Jakarta on 16 November. He was questioned by police on 22 November after being named a suspect in a blasphemy investigation seen by critics as a test of religious tolerance in Indonesia, the world’s most populous . . . 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

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

Church attack routs thousands of Indonesian Christians

October 20, 2015 Indonesia Aceh, Indonesia, Islamic Defenders Front, Papua, Sharia, Sumatra

Authorities in Indonesia’s Aceh region have started to tear down churches following last week’s religious violence that left at least one person dead and forced thousands of Christians to flee. Clashes broke out after Islamic hardliners burned down a church in Aceh Singkil on 13 Oct. According to local church . . . Read More

Indonesia’s religious freedom ‘in peril’

February 26, 2014 Indonesia Aceh, Java, Religious freedom, Sumatra, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono

The Batak Protestant Church near Jakarta was torn down in March 2013, just after being built.World Watch Monitor A new report paints a bleak picture of religious freedom in Indonesia. Indonesia: Pluralism in Peril, which was launched at the UK Parliament yesterday (Feb. 25), says that in the world’s most . . . Read More

Church walls go up, then torn down by local government

March 25, 2013 Indonesia Bekasi, Bogor, Churches, HKBP Filadelfia, Java, Pentecostals, Sumatra

Cheers went up as a backhoe tore down the barely finished walls of the Batak Protestant Church near Jakarta, Indonesia on Thursday. The pile of rubble that remained was only the latest setback to Christians trying to retain a toehold in the world’s most populous Muslim country. The church, in . . . Read More

Uptick in church closures, attacks in Indonesia

June 5, 2012 Indonesia Aceh, Banten, Bekasi, Churches, Indonesia, Jakarta, Java, Pentecostals, Southeast Asia, Sumatra, Tangerang

The number of violations of Christians’ religious rights in Indonesia reached 40 in the first five months of the year, nearly two-thirds the amount of anti-Christian actions in all of last year, according to the Jakarta Christian Communication Forum. The Christian minority in Indonesia faced 64 cases of violations of . . . Read More

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