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February 4, 2010 Thursday
Updated 9:33 pm
Minister defends blasphemy law | As Islamic hardliners protested outside, Justice and Human Rights Minister Patrialis Akbar told a Constitutional Court hearing that the law guaranteed tolerance in the pluralistic state. — PHOTO: AFP |
JAKARTA - INDONESIA on Thursday defended its blasphemy law as vital to religious harmony in the mainly Muslim country as human rights groups tried to demonstrate in court the legislation was unconstitutional.
As Islamic hardliners protested outside, Justice and Human Rights Minister Patrialis Akbar told a Constitutional Court hearing that the law guaranteed tolerance in the pluralistic state. ‘We’re worried that religious harmony, which is now strong, will be torn apart because of this unclear petition…. This kind of request should be ignored,’ he said on the first day of the hearings.
As Islamic hardliners protested outside, Justice and Human Rights Minister Patrialis Akbar told a Constitutional Court hearing that the law guaranteed tolerance in the pluralistic state. ‘We’re worried that religious harmony, which is now strong, will be torn apart because of this unclear petition…. This kind of request should be ignored,’ he said on the first day of the hearings.
A coalition of human rights groups said the 1965 law contravened the freedom of religion which is guaranteed in the constitution.
‘This law justifies state interference in the interpretation of religious teachings. We’re no longer an authoritarian state so this kind of law should be revoked,’ human rights activist Asmara Nababan told AFP. ‘The state should guarantee that everybody has the right to their own religious beliefs, as this is a basic human right.’
Under the blasphemy law, it is illegal to ‘publicise, recommend or organise public support’ for different interpretations of five recognised faiths or any religion other than those five. The five belief systems protected in the law are Buddhism, Christianity, Confucianism, Hinduism and Islam. The blasphemy law was used in 2008 to effectively ban the Islamic Ahmadiyah sect in the face of violent protests by Muslim extremists.
Ahmadiyah followers believe the sect’s founder, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, was the final prophet of Islam rather than Mohammed, breaking one of the religion’s tenets. The sect’s mosques have been burned and Ahmadis have been forced underground for fear of further attacks by radical Islamic vigilante groups. — AFP
URL: www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/SEAsia/Story/STIStory_486549.html
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