The Jakarta Post, May 26, 2006
Activists report Maftuh for slandering Ahmadiyah sect
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
An non-governmental alliance protecting religious freedoms reported the Religious
Affairs Minister to the National Police on Monday, accusing him of defaming the
Ahmadiyah sect.
Uli Parulian Sihombing, a lawyer acting for the Alliance for the Freedom of Religion
and Faith, said the group had "reported the minister (Maftuh Basyuni) for insulting and
slandering ... the members of the Ahmadiyah community."
Uli said Maftuh had violated at least four articles of the Criminal Code by repeatedly
saying in the media that the Ahmadiyah sect was heretical and was misleading
people.
In the Feb. 20-26 edition of Tempo magazine, the minister was quoted as saying that
the members of Ahmadiyah group should stop calling themselves Muslims because
their beliefs were heretical to Islam.
The Ahmadiyah follow the prophet Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (1835-1908), an Indian who
claims to be the last prophet of Islam -- after Muhammad, an idea mainstream
Muslims reject.
Uli said the alliance believed the minister's statements had helped lead to the
persecution of Ahmadiyah followers in Segerongan village, West Lombok. About 120
followers were forced out of their compound there after local Muslims drove them out
of the area.
"We will also request police protection for the members of Ahmadiyah," Uli said.
The alliance, established in July 2005, is made up of NGOs and individuals concerned
with upholding the freedom of minority groups to worship.
"We are very concerned about the fate of several religious groups (in the country)
whose members have been marginalized and have been prosecuted as criminals for
their faiths," Uli said.
Lia Aminudin, the leader of a small religious group, the Eden community, is currently
being tried at the Central Java District court after being charged with inciting civil
unrest for spreading the group's teachings.
When contacted by The Jakarta Post, the minister's personal assistant, Ahmad, said
Maftuh was aware of the alliance's plan to report him to the police but was unavailable
for comment.(04)
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