Source & Credit: The Jakarta Post | February 13, 2009
By Arghea Desafti Hapsari | Jakarta
Constitutional Court chief Mahfud M.D. has promised to issue a fair ruling on the judicial review of the blasphemy law, which has been filed by rights activists and is strongly opposed by Muslim clerics.
"Every law should be fair for all people. This means all Indonesian citizens have to feel that the 1965 Blasphemy Law is fair for every one of them. Whether it is fair or not, the court will decide," he said.
The court, he said, would hear the opinions of about 60 experts during its review of the law to ensure that all angles are covered in the hearings that will take at least four months.
The experts include a US professor of law, who will speak to the court via teleconference.
Mahfud explained that a law had to be implemented not only according to the democracy, or people's sovereignty, but also the nomocracy, or the rule of law.
"So if a law is wrong, it cannot be applied just because the majority wishes it to be," said Mahfud, a former politician from the National Awakening Party (PKB).
Petitioners comprising NGOs and other supporters of pluralism have requested that the court review several contentious articles in the 45-year-old law, saying that the law is discriminatory toward minority religious groups.
The articles regulate the government's authority to dissolve religious groups whose beliefs and practices are deemed blasphemous by religious authorities.
Under the law, the government also has the authority to charge leaders and followers of suspected heretical groups with an article in the Criminal Code, which carries a maximum penalty of five years imprisonment.
The government and the House of Representatives have strongly rejected a review of the law. Both argue that the law was still needed because it ensures the safety of the minority.
Two of the biggest Muslim organizations in the country, the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) and the Muhammadiyah, also oppose the review. Taking their sides are hard-line groups Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) and Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia.
Others, however, have taken a different stance. The East Java Network for Freedom of Religion and Religious Beliefs, whose members include local NU branches, said in a statement on Thursday that the law violates the non-discriminatory principal by giving support and protection to only six religions.
"It mentions that the six religions were chosen based on their history and their number of followers. The law is discriminatory *as it* excludes and restricts other religions and beliefs," the network says.
It also says that the law "protects only a single interpretation *of a religion* as the official truth."
"Furthermore, because a penalty *in the Criminal Code* exists, the law qualifies freedom of thought and religion as a crime.
"Forcing people to follow, deny or convert from a certain religion or belief is prohibited, as well as the use of physical violence or legal sanctions to make them do so."
The court, Mahfud said, is set to issue its verdict on April with a marathon of hearings scheduled every Wednesday.
"The law has been here for over 45 years, so we are fine with spending another four months *deciding on the verdict*".
Read original article here: Court chief promises fair ruling
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thank you for your comments. Any comments irrelevant to the post's subject matter, containing abuses, and/or vulgar language will not be approved.