Today, the Constitutional Court has rejected the request for judicial review on the Blasphemy Law No. 1 PNPS/1965 filed by several non government organizations including the Legal Aid Foundation, and several prominent citizens including the late former President Abdurrahman Wahid.
The request itself was aimed at five stipulations of the Law which are regarded as against the Constitution and Discriminative toward followers of minority religions, i.e Articles 1, Article 2 Par.1 and Par.2, Article 3 and Article 4.
The Court's judges headed by its chief Mahfud MD explained that the Law is not against the Constitution, it is not a threat to Religious Freedom, it is not Discriminative and it has no potential to Criminalize followers of minority Religions.
For detailed media reports (in Bahasa Indonesia), please click here, here, here and here.
In my humble opinion, religion is a personal matter of every citizens, therefore State intervention should be limited. However, now that the Constitutional Court has made its decision to empower the Blasphemy Law, we must respect and obey the said Law. That way, we can focus our attention on other matters which are important for the country and people of Indonesia i.e. eradicating corruption and poverty.
4 comments:
In a mood of resignation we use to say ( literally translated from Dutch into English)): "It's a pity, but alas".
@Dinah,
Thank you for your kind compliment.
I am very glad that you like my blog.
I will surely visit your blog.
@Colson,
Facts have shown people became religiously or ideologically extreme because of widespread corruption, injustice and poverty.
As a country that has been 'accused' as a corrupt country, Indonesia must concentrate on eradicating corruption, injustice and poverty.
well said harry a secular society is the only way forward. although i am not religious myself on the whole it is a good thing. But it must always be kept separate from politics
Stuart,
It's good to see you again.
Our constitutions stipulated that religion is one of the basis for laws and regulations in Indonesia. But as a national state we adopted national laws.
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