Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
08JAKARTA823
2008-04-24 07:18:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Jakarta
Cable title:  

SECT LEADER SENTENCED TO FOUR YEARS FOR BLASPHEMY

Tags:  PGOV KIRF SOCI PINS ID 
pdf how-to read a cable
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O 240718Z APR 08
FM AMEMBASSY JAKARTA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 8809
INFO RUEHZS/ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN NATIONS PRIORITY
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RHHJJPI/USPACOM HONOLULU HI
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 JAKARTA 000823 

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR EAP, EAP/MTS, EAP/MLS, DRL/AWH, DRL/IRF
NSC FOR EPHU

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/24/2018
TAGS: PGOV KIRF SOCI PINS ID
SUBJECT: SECT LEADER SENTENCED TO FOUR YEARS FOR BLASPHEMY

REF: A. JAKARTA 789

B. JAKARTA 161 AND PREVIOUS

JAKARTA 00000823 001.2 OF 002


Classified By: Pol/C Joseph Legend Novak, reasons 1.4 (b+d).

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 JAKARTA 000823

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR EAP, EAP/MTS, EAP/MLS, DRL/AWH, DRL/IRF
NSC FOR EPHU

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/24/2018
TAGS: PGOV KIRF SOCI PINS ID
SUBJECT: SECT LEADER SENTENCED TO FOUR YEARS FOR BLASPHEMY

REF: A. JAKARTA 789

B. JAKARTA 161 AND PREVIOUS

JAKARTA 00000823 001.2 OF 002


Classified By: Pol/C Joseph Legend Novak, reasons 1.4 (b+d).


1. (C) SUMMARY: A Jakarta district court convicted Ahmad
Mushaddeq, leader of an outlawed religious sect, of blasphemy
on April 23 and sentenced him to four years in prison. He
was jailed last October for declaring himself "a new Islamic
Prophet." Human rights advocates criticized the decision.
This negative ruling for religious freedom was announced as
the GOI continues to review whether to ban the large
Ahmadiyah Muslim group. END SUMMARY.

SECT LEADER IS SENTENCED


2. (U) A Jakarta district court convicted Ahmad
Mushaddeq--leader of the outlawed Islamic sect Al-Qiyadah
Al-Islamiyah--of blasphemy on April 23. As is the custom in
Indonesia, he was immediately given his sentence which was
four years in prison. The blasphemy charge was made--and
apparently stuck--because Mushaddeq had basically declared
himself "a new Islamic Prophet." In handing down the
sentence, the judge noted that Mushaddeq seemed
"unrepentant."


3. (U) According to press reports, the ruling was handed
down in a crowded courtroom with nearly 2,000 people in and
around the venue, many of whom had been waiting all day.
Dozens of members of the hardline Islamic groups Islam
Defenders Front (FPI) and Islam Defenders Brigade (LPI) began
chanting "Allah Akbar!" ("God is great") after the sentence
was handed down and reportedly clashed with Mushaddeq's
followers outside. Mushaddeq's lawyer said he would appeal
the verdict as unconstitutional.


4. (U) Background: The Indonesian Council of Ulemas (MUI),
the country's highest authority on Islam, issued a fatwa last
year declaring that the sect was "misguided," saying it had
defied one of Islam's six pillars of faith by disputing that
the Prophet Muhammad was the last prophet. Subsequently, the
sect was outlawed by the Attorney General's Office after the
Coordinating Agency for the Supervision of Religious Faiths
and Sects recommended a government ban.



5. (U) The sect's teachings also allegedly deviated from
mainstream Islamic beliefs by not requiring its followers to
pray five times a day, fast during the month of Ramadan nor
perform the obligatory pilgrimage to Mecca. Hardline Sunni
Muslims threatened to attack and persecute members of the
sect unless the GOI made arrests. In October 2007, Ahmad
Mushaddeq surrendered to authorities along with many of his
followers after several attacks on Al-Qiyadah facilities
occurred throughout the country. Mushaddeq formed the sect
in 2000 and it once claimed 40,000 followers, though those
numbers appear to have severely diminished in the past couple
of years.

CRITICISM FROM HUMAN RIGHTS ADVOCATES

6 (C) The ruling has been met with criticism. Uli Parulian
Sihombing, a leading human rights lawyer and Executive
Director of the Indonesian Legal Resource Center, said the
district court's ruling was "incorrect" and based on a very
loose interpretation of "blasphemy." He also stated to
poloff that "internal matters such as faith should not become
an issue" in Indonesia given its Constitutional protections
on religious freedom.


7. (C) Wahyu Effendy of the Indonesian Anti-Discrimination
Movement (Gandi),said the conviction will likely not stop
Al-Qiyadah activities. He said the problem was also based in
the blasphemy law and that many NGO's had been working to
eliminate the law for some time, claiming it severely limited
religious freedom. The law prohibits anyone from
"deliberately making interpretations of any of the recognized
religions in Indonesia or publicly engaging in activities
which deviate from those religions; such interpretations and

JAKARTA 00000823 002.4 OF 002


activities being contrary to, and deviating from 'the true
teachings' of those religions." The law can thus capture
many behaviors and activities which really should be given
religious freedom protection.


8. (C) Ahmad Suaedy, Executive Director of the Wahid
Institute, which advocates for pluralism in Indonesia, said
he feared the decision was purely "political." He feared for
the safety of the sects' followers.

BAD NEWS FOR RELIGIOUS FREEDOM


9. (C) The ruling in this case was a negative for religious
freedom. There is little to no evidence that the Al-Qiyadah
group was problematic in any way. In fact, it seemed to keep
almost entirely to itself, though Mushaddeq did give public
sermons on occasion. The ruling was announced as the GOI
continues to review whether to ban the much larger Ahmadiyah
Muslim group. Sunni Muslim hardliners are accusing this
group of behaving roughly along the same lines as Al-Qiyadah
and it has already been adjudged to be "deviant." The GOI
seems to be carefully considering the repercussions of any
decision that flat-out bans the group, however.

HUME