The sentence of one and a half years in prison for blasphemy of a Buddhist Indonesian living in Tanjungbalai, North Sumatra, was confirmed Tuesday (April 9th) on appeal. She had asked to turn down the speaker volume of the call to …
The conviction of a year and a half in prison for blasphemy of a Buddhist Indonesian, living in Tanjungbalai, North Sumatra, was confirmed Tuesday, April 9 on appeal. She had asked to turn down the loudspeaker volume of the call to Muslim prayer in the street. A highly symbolic case to a week of presidential and legislative elections on April 17.
Is Indonesian Islam becoming intolerant? In 2016, Meiliana, an Indonesian of Chinese ethnicity complains about the loudspeaker volume of the mosque calling for prayer in her street. A false rumor then becomes viral: a Chinese woman would have asked to forbid the call to prayer. Result: riots against the Buddhist temples of the city, a fatwa launched by the regional council of Ulemas and the police who arrest Meiliana. She will become the first Indonesian woman convicted for judging the volume of the call to prayer too high.
87% of Indonesians are Muslims and mostly practice tolerant Islam. The main Muslim organization, Nahdlatul Ulama, disapproved of Meiliana’s conviction. Vice President Jusuf Kalla had already asked the mosques in 2015 to lower the volume of the call to prayer.
The problem comes from the law on blasphemy, denounce associations. Indonesia is officially a pluralistic nation. But criticism of religion, especially Islam, can be expensive. Especially if it comes from ethnic minorities. In 2018, the governor of Jakarta, also of Chinese ethnicity, was sentenced to two years in prison for blasphemy. He was an ally of President Joko Widodo, who is re-elected on April 17.
