Faith Freedom International - Forum Indonesia

Dari Faithfreedom internasional


Foto Alexander Aan, Murtadin Atheis Minang, Minangkabau

http://www.faithfreedom.org/articles/po ... -facebook/

Update 1: FFI receives an email from an Indonesian Group

1/21/2012

Readers, please support this movement to any extent you can. Visit their FaceBook page. Leave a word of encouragement if you can. FFI received this email from this group, and we’ll be contacting them to see if a more concrete steps of assistance to them can be taken on the political/Human Rights level. Thank You – FFI Editors.

Here is the body of their email to us
Dear Editor,

We are a group of international people, indonesian as well as other nationalities, including ex indonesian journalists as well as legal assistants, supporting Alex Aan in regard to his recent arrest and charges under indonesian law for blasphemy due to his posts on the wall of his Facebook group of which he is one of the admin. Alex Aan exercised his right to free speech in a democratic country, Indonesia, by openly questioning the existence of god and criticizing islam.

We are please asking for your help in spreading the word about our Facebook group at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Support-A ... 28?sk=info

We are very concerned about Alex Aan and his family’s safety and hope that international pressure and outrage at this violation of his basic human rights will result in him being freed as soon as possible. Thank you for your help in support of Alex Aan.

————————————————————————————-
FFI Addendum – Link to a media story about Mr. Alex Aan

Here is a copy of a second email we received from this group:

Hi there,

Thank you so much for your quick reply.

As the Indonesian police have a very limited amount of time to extract a ‘confession’ from Alexander Aan, it’s critical that things happen as fast as possible. Because the police are under pressure from the Indonesian government – the majority being Muslim themselves, the Muslim-majority public, and fanatical Islamic organizations, these so-called ‘officers of the law’ will do whatever is necessary to extract a confession from him, including beat and torture him. He will then be forced to sign it, at which point it is unlikely anybody will be able to help him.

At this time we only know that he has been unable to secure a lawyer to help in his defence. Even the lawyers are in fear of these radical Islamic groups, the public, judges within their own legal system and their government. In addition, if these charges against him are not dropped, he will face a guaranteed conviction. It is very likely that he will then be tortured and killed in prison for ‘insulting Islam’, ‘blaspheming’ it, by other inmates, very possibly the police, or prison guards who are Muslim themselves.

Even if we all manage to put enough pressure on the Indonesian government to drop all charges against Alex, he and his family will face public violence, ridicule, shunning, and being fired from their jobs. Their children will most definitely be bullied and tormented in school, by their classmates as well as teachers. We do not feel we are being melodramatic in saying that he or his family members would likely be killed by any of these lunatics. It could be a neighbour, friend, or even another family member who may carry out his execution. And the person who murders him would more than likely be lauded as a ‘defender of Islam’ and be seen as a ‘hero’. No matter how we look at this situation, whether he is convicted or not, whether the charges are dropped or not, he and his family are in a very precarious position at the moment. We hope that, ultimately, he would be able to claim refugee status in any country that would take him in. We can only dream of this at the moment.

We are currently working on attempting to directly contact one of Alex’s family members in Indonesia, by whatever means possible, in order to receive regular updates about what is happening to him in police custody, whether or not any lawyer in the country will offer to work on his behalf, or any other important info related to this case. The Associated Press has already gotten a hold of this story, but our press here in Vancouver, BC Canada has not as of yet as far as we know, so we will be contacting local newspapers, etc tonight. We are also working on a petition which we will submit to the Indonesian government, in English and Indonesian, with which we would appreciate your support/backup. Being able to add your organization’s name to the petition we are drafting would very much help. Please let us know if this is possible.

As to your question regarding what your own organization can do to assist Alex, firstly, if you could please forward this email to as many people, human rights organizations, news agencies etc that you think might be helpful to getting Alex released, we would greatly appreciate it. Feel free to post the entire contents of this email in your forums as well. Please do not, however, post our direct email address as we would prefer not to have to deal with death threats etc which will undoubtedly come our way at this moment. Our time is better spent working on getting Alex freed, rather than dealing with murderous lunatics. In addition, having people worldwide contact the Indonesian embassy in their areas, protesting his arrest and the charges brought against him and demanding his immediate release, would be very helpful. We are also encouraging people to directly contact the Indonesian Ministry of Tourism to let them know that they will not be spending their vacation dollars in Indonesia due to the arrest and charges brought against Alexander Aan. It’s necessary at this time to bombard them with as many emails, phone calls, faxes and letters as humanly possible. We want them to be sitting under a literal mountain of protest and outrage. It’s one of the few ways we will be able to get through to them as Indonesia is very concerned with its international reputation, foreign investment and tourist dollars. It all equals cold hard cash to them, or lack thereof. We have also posted the following list on our Facebook wall in hopes that these methods of applying pressure will result in exactly that.

For those who are wondering what else they can do to support Alexander Aan, we have put together a small list of suggestions.

1) Make others aware of this FB group in support of Alex. Post links to this group in your signatures in your emails, forums you use, as well as your signature of your forum profiles. That allows others easy access to this group so they can become familiar with what is happening to Alex, as well as allow them to share this info and group with their own friends.

2) Write letters to the president of Indonesia in support of freeing Alex Aan and having all charges against him dropped.

3) Contact Amnesty International (and other human rights organizations possible) and let them know you are concerned about the violation of Alex Aan’s human rights. Press them to become involved in this case.

4) Write letters to members of your own government in support of Alex Aan and ask them to put pressure on the Indonesian government to drop the absurd charges against him.

Please be aware that attempting to send funds for Alex Aan’s legal defense is not suggested. As our Indonesian admins with legal and journalistic backgrounds have pointed out, your money will never reach Alexander Aan or his family. It will be eaten up by corrupt police, lawyers and equally corrupt government officials, after which they will still drag him through their kangaroo courts. Money will also very likely end up in the pockets of Islamists who are attempting to railroad this man into 5 years of prison time. Unfortunately, this is the reality, and the last thing we want to have happen is these hypocritical douche bags making money off Alex Aan’s suffering and using those funds to buy themselves new cars and houses, or to further their fanatical & immoral Islamic groups.

The best thing people can do for Alex right now is to increase pressure on the Indonesian government in the ways mentioned above. If you have any further ideas of your own, please let us know. Every little bit helps.

Thanks very much for your timely support and assistance in this ground-breaking matter. It is very much appreciated.

Ini untuk tambahan saja dan untuk SEO karena berita ini sedang hangat maka dibikin thread baru.

http://thedailywh.at/2012/01/20/this-is ... he-day-54/

This Is All Kinds Of Wrong of the Day: A man from Dharmasraya in the West Sumatra province of Indonesia was arrested today for blasphemy after he allegedly created a Facebook fan page for Minang atheists on which he expressed his personal disbelief in God, angels, the devil, and other “myth.”

The page had garnered over 1,400 likes by Friday afternoon.

The local police chief told The Jakarta Post Alexander Aan’s arrest was directly related to the statements he made on Facebook. “He has triggered unrest among local residents,” Adj. Sr. Comr. Chairul Azis is quoted as saying.

Aan was reportedly dragged to the police station after being beaten by a mob of angry men outside the government planning offices where he works.

Following the arrest, the 31-year-old civil servant stood by his words. “He said he realized what he had said and was prepared to lose his job to defend his beliefs,” the police chief told the paper.

If convicted, Aan faces the possibility of spending five years behind bars.

An update recently posted to Facebook claims Alexander Aan was not the page’s founder, but simply an administrator.

“Now we cancel his admin status and remove all of his posts, and he is no longer be responsible of what is going on this page,” reads the update. “We will continue our support to him and we condemn all of the brutality ans his [arrest] by the police.”

[jakartapost / bbcnews / facebook.]

http://www.hindustantimes.com/technolog ... 00252.aspx

Indonesian atheist faces jail after Facebook post

Agence France-Presse
Jakarta, January 21, 2012

An Indonesian civil servant who declared himself an atheist on Facebook was arrested and is now facing jail for blasphemy after being attacked by an angry mob, police said on Friday. Alexander An,

30, who wrote "God doesn't exist" on his Facebook page, was beaten by a mob
of dozens on
Wednesday in his hometown in Pulau Punjung, West Sumatra province.


"He is suspected of having blasphemed against Islam," local police chief Chairul Aziz told AFP.

"The man told police investigators that if God really exists and has absolute power, why didn't he prevent bad things from happening in this world."

An said on his Facebook page that he was brought up as a Muslim, like the vast majority in Indonesia, where blasphemy is a punishable crime carrying a maximum five-year prison term.

Dozens of locals stormed into his office after a heated debate with them on Facebook over religion, police said.

An was also an administrator of a Facebook group promoting atheism with 1,243 followers. His postings no longer appeared online following his arrest.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-16644141

20 January 2012 Last updated at 13:26 GMT
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Row over Indonesia atheist Facebook post

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An Indonesian man who said that God did not exist in a posting on a Facebook page for atheists could face jail.

Civil servant Alexander Aan, 31, is now in protective police custody after he was attacked by an angry mob earlier this week.

He may also lose his job over his posting on the social networking site.

Atheism is a violation of Indonesian law under the founding principles of the country.

Indonesia - the world's most populous Muslim nation - recognises the right to practice five other religions aside from Islam, says the BBC's Karishma Vaswani in Jakarta.

Local media said a mob attacked Mr Aan when he arrived for work at a government office on Wednesday.

Police said that according to Indonesian criminal law, anyone who tried to stop others believing in a faith could face up to five years in prison

The Facebook page where he made his comments is now unavailable. Supporters of Mr An have urged police to release him.

http://www.answeringmuslims.com/2012/01 ... eaten.html

Friday, January 20, 2012

Indonesian Atheist Alexander An Beaten, Facing Jail for "Blaphemy"

I'm sure Muslims in the UK would jump at the chance to defend this atheist's rights, if only they weren't so busy complaining about cartoons.

INDONESIA--An Indonesian civil servant who declared himself an atheist on Facebook was arrested and is now facing jail for blasphemy after being attacked by an angry mob, police said today.

Alexander An, 30, who wrote "God doesn't exist" on his Facebook page, was beaten by a mob of dozens on Wednesday in his hometown in Pulau Punjung, West Sumatra province.

"He is suspected of having blasphemed against Islam," local police chief Chairul Aziz told AFP.

"The man told police investigators that if God really exists and has absolute power, why didn't he prevent bad things from happening in this world."

An said on his Facebook page that he was brought up as a Muslim, like the vast majority in Indonesia, where blasphemy is a punishable crime carrying a maximum five-year prison term.

Dozens of locals stormed into his office after a heated debate with them on Facebook over religion, police said.

An was also an administrator of a Facebook group promoting atheism with 1243 followers. His postings no longer appeared online following his arrest. (Source)

http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/news/dis ... emy/492622

Dismay After Indonesian Atheist Charged With Blasphemy

Camelia Pasandaran | January 20, 2012

Police on Friday confirmed that they had charged a man with blasphemy after he was reported by the Indonesia Council of Ulema.

Dharmasraya Police Chief Sr. Comr. Chairul Aziz told the Jakarta Globe on Friday that the district branch of the council, known as MUI, and other Islamic organizations believed Alexander, 31, had defiled Islam by using passages from the Koran to denounce the existence of God.

Alexander, a civil servant, is facing five years in jail for writing “God does not exist” on a Facebook page he moderated called “Ateis Minang” (“Minang Atheists”).

Chairul said the issue was that Alexander had used the Koran to highlight his atheist views.

“So it meets the criteria of tainting religion, in this case Islam.”

Blasphemy, which carries a five-year sentence, is defined under the Criminal Code as publicly expressing feelings or doing something that spreads hatred, abuse or taints certain religions in Indonesia in a way that could cause someone to disbelieve religion.”

National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) chairman Ifdhal Kasim urged the police to remain neutral and not be forced to act by the majority.

“They should protect freedom of expression, instead of listening too much to the majority,” Ifdhal told the Globe. “Police should remain neutral instead of upholding the law subjectively.”

He also lashed out at MUI, saying the body was not even a state institution.

“If everyone does whatever MUI says, the law will be absurd.”

A member of a 600-strong atheist organization in Jakarta, meanwhile, said the case was a clear breach of human rights.

He would not be identified because of fears for his safety.

“If MUI thinks that there’s an imaginary friend up there, it doesn’t mean people should believe it,” he said. “Why is it that we cannot criticize religion? This is against freedom of expression and human rights.”

http://www.jihadwatch.org/2012/01/indon ... ceboo.html

Indonesia: Atheist attacked by angry mob, faces jail time for writing "God doesn't exist" on his Facebook page

"He is suspected of having blasphemed against Islam." Islamic Tolerance Alert from modern, moderate Indonesia: "Indonesian atheist faces jail after Facebook post," from AFP, January 20 (thanks to Kenneth):
PADANG, Indonesia — An Indonesian civil servant who declared himself an atheist on Facebook was arrested and is now facing jail for blasphemy after being attacked by an angry mob, police said Friday.

Alexander An, 30, who wrote "God doesn't exist" on his Facebook page, was beaten by a mob of dozens on Wednesday in his hometown in Pulau Punjung, West Sumatra province.

"He is suspected of having blasphemed against Islam," local police chief Chairul Aziz told AFP.

"The man told police investigators that if God really exists and has absolute power, why didn't he prevent bad things from happening in this world."

An said on his Facebook page that he was brought up as a Muslim, like the vast majority in Indonesia, where blasphemy is a punishable crime carrying a maximum five-year prison term.

Dozens of locals stormed into his office after a heated debate with them on Facebook over religion, police said.

An was also an administrator of a Facebook group promoting atheism with 1,243 followers. His postings no longer appeared online following his arrest.

Posted by Robert on January 20, 2012 5:45 AM | 6 Comments

Berita lainnya:


http://www.google.com/search?client=ope ... nder%20aan

Om minta FF Inter kirim pengacara ke Indonesia aja, kasihan tuh alex ...
untuk rekan2 FFI harap jaga perkataan dan kalimat2 yang diposting, inget, tujuan FFI itu kan memberitakan ISLAM yang sebenarnya, jadi ga usah pake maki2 deh, ntar kita bisa turun kelas kayak mereka. Saya yakin dengan kalimat sopan maka peminatnya akan makin banyak kog. To Miki, Please PM me .... untuk om walet kalo bisa info miki juga untuk pm saya, soale FB nya udah ilang juga, hehehehe

trims buat netter humanitarian


Prison for ‘Minang atheist’

Syofiardi Bachyul Jb, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Headlines | Fri, June 15 2012, 8:36 AM



In what critics have condemned as a precedent that may harm free speech and individual liberty, a court in West Sumatra sentenced on Thursday Alexander Aan, 32, to two-and-a-half years in prison for blasphemy and publicly declaring himself an atheist.

The Muaro District Court in Sijunjung regency also fined Alexander Rp 100 million (US$11,100), or face another two months in prison.

The verdict was lighter than the three-and-a-half years without a fine sought by prosecutors.

Alexander may be the first person in Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim-majority nation, to be imprisoned for being an atheist.

In the verdict, presiding judge Eka Prasetya Budi Dharma said Alexander was proven guilty of blasphemy against Islam and insulting the Prophet Muhammad through his personal Facebook account “Alex Aan” and the “Ateis Minang” Facebook group, of which he was an administrator.

“We establish that the defendant committed the act intentionally because he objected when other parties protested his posts and he did not immediately remove a number of posts in the Ateis Minang group despite the fact that as an administrator he had the authority to do so,” said Eka.

According to the judges, Alexander’s actions violated Article 28 of Law No. 11/2008 on Information and Electronic Transactions because he had spread information that had caused hatred and enmity against individuals and groups based on tribal affiliations, religion, race and societal groups (SARA).

The judge also mentioned Alexander’s open declaration that he was an atheist, which could be read by many people. This was not acceptable behavior for a citizen and civil servant under the state ideology of Pancasila and the Constitution, which obliges every citizen to have a religion.

Despite their judicial victory, prosecutors have filed for an appeal. Prosecutor Syahril Jasman said he was not satisfied with the sentence, which he deemed too lenient.

After the trial, Alexander said he accepted the court’s ruling. “I accept the judgment and will abide by it. For me, faith is a personal matter and I have expressed my regret and apology to every party, including my family,” he said.

Alexander offered his apology, expressed his regrets and asked forgiveness from God on Feb. 5, 2012.

His lawyer from the Padang Legal Aid Institute, Deddi Alparesi, said he would file an appeal. “The fine does not make sense because no one was harmed and the defendant would face difficulties in paying it due to his and his family’s financial condition,” said Deddi.

Noted human rights lawyer Todung Mulya Lubis said he was concerned about what had happened to Alexander Aan. “Religion and faith are personal issues. There shouldn’t be any law that regulates what we believe in,” he said on Thursday.

“Our Constitution recognizes our freedom of religion and our rights to express our opinion. His rights must be protected even if he stated that he was an atheist,” he added.

Futhermore, Todung said, it did not mean that Alexander did not believe in God by being an atheist. He said that it was possible that Alexander was just unsatisfied with the existing religious establishments in Indonesia.

According to Todung, the state cannot charge anybody unless they have clearly violated the law, for example by inciting hatred toward a certain religious group.

Erna Ratnaningsih, former head of the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI), said that every citizen had the right to voice their opinions, including ones that were related to religious issues.

Blasphemy cases 2010–2012

March 17, 2010
Ibnu Rachal Farhansyah, a non-Balinese, posts a Facebook status likening Nyepi, the Hindu Day of Silence, to feces.

Feb. 8, 2011
Antonius Richmond Bawengan is sentenced to five years in prison by the Temanggung District Court for his alleged blasphemy against Islam.

March 15, 2012
A local Shiite leader in Sampang, Madura, Tajul Muluk, faces five years in prison for insulting Islam.





Indonesian ‘Internet atheist’ given jail term
6-19-2012
By Maron Soueid
Human Rights Defenders


On June 14, an Indonesian man was convicted of spreading racial and religious hatred, fined more than $10,000 and sentenced to two and a half years in prison. His crime? Posting “There is no God” on his Facebook page.

Alexander Aan, from West Sumatra, was arrested in January and charged with committing blasphemy for using passages from the Quran to deny the existence of God, a crime under Article 156a of the Indonesian Criminal Code. He was convicted under Article 28 of Indonesia’s Information and Electronic Transaction law. Even before this ruling, Indonesian human rights activists were concerned that blasphemy laws combined with the rising intolerance of certain Islamic fundamentalist groups were hindering free speech and the development of a pluralistic democracy.

In April of 2010, the Indonesian Constitutional Court ruled in favor of upholding a law that prohibits blasphemy. Although Indonesia is a vibrant and flourishing democracy, the country’s blasphemy laws have set it back in terms of protecting those who do not adhere to official state beliefs. While the Indonesian blasphemy law does not specify any particular religion, the government uses it to target those it deems heretical. The government officially recognizes 6 religions: Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Catholicism, Protestantism, and Confucianism.

The Indonesian Council of Ulema (MUI), a group of religious scholars who strictly interpret the Quran, cited the blasphemy law when it released a fatwa, or religious decree, in 2005 declaring the Ahmadiya sect of Islam heretical. In various regions of Indonesia, members of minority religious groups have been attacked. However, efforts to mitigate violence through peaceful activism continue to unite people of all religious convictions.

The controversy over blasphemy laws is part of larger tension between fundamental religious groups and those who seek more freedom of expression. Recently, a concert featuring American performer Lady Gaga was canceled due to protests from religious groups that consider her work threatening to their values. Others considered the cancellation a violation of their freedoms. Similar protests occurred across the region.

The United States should put pressure on the Indonesian government by supporting groups calling for greater religious freedoms and free speech. The blasphemy law—and related violence—are severely compromising Indonesian democracy.