province of West Java, ahead of a landmark court ruling on whether three Christian women converted Muslim children to Christianity, church workers said late Wednesday, August 31.
"I received last night a phone call from our co-worker in Indonesia [who said that] Islamic extremists have shut down over 20 churches in the Indonesian city of Bandung, the capital of West Java in Indonesia," said Jim Jacobson, president of US-based Christian Freedom International (CFI), an advocacy group investigating the plight of persecuted Christians in the region. Voice Of the Martyrs (VOM) Canada said 35 churches are believed to have been closed in August.
In one of the most violent incidents, a group of about 200 Islamic extremists forcibly shut down a Catholic Chapel in Margahayu, which is linked to a parish church in West Java, shortly after the 6:30 pm service on Sarurday August 27, the Catholic news website AsiaNews reported.
A radical group calling itself the Islam Defender’s Front "is using intimidation, death threats,
and acts of vandalism to force the closure of the churches," Jacobson stressed. "Further complicating the situation is that the anti-Christian Islamic Defender’s Front is backed by Agus Zakia, the head of Bandung district Dayeuhkolot," he added in a statement to BosNewsLife. In total about 200 churches have been closed since 1996, several sources said.
Agus Zakia was quoted as saying by Indonesian media that he had authorized the forcible closure of churches as they had no government permit or license. However Indonesian vice-president Yusuf Kalla has reportedly urged an end to these attacks against churches in West Java.
MINISTERIAL DECREE
Under a Ministerial Decree jointly issued in 1969 by the Ministry of Religious Affairs and the Ministry of Home Affairs, churches are required to obtain a permit from both the local religious office and the head of the local neighborhood unit. There are no similar requirements for mosques, CFI said.
The latest church closures came as Rebekka Zakaria, Eti Pangesti and Ratna Bangun were to appear Thursday, September 1, for a West Java court amid international concern they could be sentenced to five years in prison on charges of converting Muslim minors.
They were detained May 13 after the local Majelis Ulama Indonesia (MUI, or Muslim Clerics Council) reportedly discovered that Muslim children were attending a Christian education program run by the women. Some of the children had asked for and received Bibles.
"MUSLIM HECKLERS"
Since their trial began on June 30, Muslim hecklers have crowded the courtroom, often shouting insults at the accused and taking part in noisy demonstrations outside the building, human rights investigators claim.
In the most recent hearing on August 25, Islamic radicals reportedly took over the court before
proceedings began and conducted an Islamic worship service there to put pressure on judges.
"It seems that the militants hope to set a legal precedent from the Child Protection Laws of 2002 which would prevent Muslim children from attending Sunday schools or any Christian-led activities," said religious rights watchdog Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW).
But it also noted that "moderate Muslim leaders have spoken out in favor of the defendants with the former President of Indonesia, Abdurrahman Wahid asking for the case to be withdrawn." CSW suggested that the latest developments threaten to undermine the image of Indonesia which as the world’s largest Muslim nation, "has long enjoyed a reputation for religious tolerance and freedom." (With BosNewsLife Research, Stefan J. Bos, and reports from Indonesia)
