“The court turned conservative in the second case. They ignored the fact that the mayor had wrongfully sealed the mosque. They only considered the regulation.”
Source/Credit: The Jakarta Globe
By Camelia Pasandaran | December 6, 2013
A beleaguered Ahmadiyah congregation in Bekasi was handed a hollow victory on Thursday when a court invalidated a municipal order to board up the group’s mosque — then went on to uphold another order to keep the building locked.
Muhamad Isnur, a lawyer from the Jakarta Legal Aid Foundation (LBH Jakarta) representing the congregation, told the Jakarta Globe that it had been a roller-coaster day of rulings from the Bandung State Administrative Court.
In the first case, the court ruled that an order to board up the mosque with iron sheets was unlawful because it was issued by the Bekasi municipal secretary who had no authority to do so.
But in the second case, heard by the same presiding judge but with other judges on the panel, the court rejected the Ahmadis’ request to strike down an order from the Bekasi mayor to close off the mosque under lock and key.
“We’re grateful about the decision regarding the iron sheets, but we’re disappointed concerning the sealing,” Isnur said. “We still can’t enter the mosque because the decision to seal off the mosque is still considered lawful.”
He said the congregation would immediately file an appeal with the Jakarta State Administrative High Court.
“The locking was considered lawful. The judge said it was done according to the SKB [joint ministerial decree] on the Ahmadiyah, as well as the West Java gubernatorial regulation and Bekasi mayoral regulation banning the Ahmadiyah” from promoting their faith, Isnur said.
“The court turned conservative in the second case. They ignored the fact that the mayor had wrongfully sealed the mosque. They only considered the regulation.”
In 2011, the Bekasi mayor issued a bylaw banning all activities by the Ahmadiyah. In November that year, the Bekasi Public Order Agency (Satpol PP) made its first attempt to shut down the mosque by placing a large sign out front stating that all activities there had been ordered to cease.
On March 8 this year, the government put up another sign. This time, it cited the joint ministerial decree issued in 2008 restricting Ahmadiyah-related activities; the West Java gubernatorial regulation; an edict from the Indonesian Council of Ulema (MUI); and the Bekasi mayor’s initial bylaw. That same day, the Satpol PP sealed off the entrance to the mosque.
On April 5, in response to the continue activities at the mosque, the Satpol PP officers boarded up the mosque with corrugated iron sheets — even though 30 congregation members were still inside.
Read original post here: Court Keeps Ahmadiyah Mosque Locked Up in Bekasi
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