Source/Credit: The Jakarta Globe
By Candra Malik | June 01, 2011
Semarang. Prosecutors sought a mere one-year sentence on Tuesday for the alleged ringleader of a mob that burned down two churches as part of a wider rampage after a blasphemy trial in February.
Lead prosecutor Sugeng told the Semarang District Court that Syihabuddin, a local Islamic scholar, had riled up the crowd in the Feb. 8 incident in which a mob angered by a sentence handed down in a blasphemy trial attacked two churches and a Christian school in Temanggung, Central Java.
“The defendant brought a megaphone [to the courthouse] to address the crowd,” Sugeng said.
“He even supplied food to the people who came to the courthouse. We demand that he be sentenced to a year in prison for the crimes attributed to him.”
The charge of incitement that Syihabuddin faces stipulates a maximum sentence of six years in prison. A second charge of mob violence stipulates a maximum seven years in prison.
Sugeng said the mitigating circumstances in favor of a lighter sentence included the fact that Syihabuddin had no prior convictions and that “he runs an Islamic boarding school.”
Despite apparently getting a break from prosecutors, Syihabuddin railed against the charges. “I was originally asked by the police to help secure the blasphemy trial, so I don’t understand why I’ve been indicted like this,” he said. “The sentence demand is unfair. I hope all who blame me get cursed by God.”
His tirade was cut short by Judge Edy Tjahjono, who told the religious leader he would have his turn to present his defense in two weeks’ time.
“Whatever it is you have to say, say it then. Don’t scream now,” he said.
The judge also ordered dozens of the defendant’s supporters to be barred from attending the hearing. However, they could be heard shouting outside the courtroom before dispersing.
After the hearing, Widyopramono, Central Java’s chief prosecutor, denied that prosecutors had gone soft on Syihabuddin, saying they were “acting independently” and not being influenced by the sensitive nature of the case.
Previously, prosecutors sought light sentences for six of the 25 people standing trial for the rioting, recommending only eight months’ incarceration while the charges stipulated a maximum sentence of seven years.
In the riot, roving mobs of Muslims attacked and vandalized five buildings in Temanggung following the sentencing of Antonius Richmord Bawengan, a Christian, for blaspheming Islam.
The rioters were incensed at the five-year sentence handed down to Antonius, which they deemed too lenient, thus setting off the spasm of violence.
Nine people were injured in the violence, most of them from rocks thrown by the rioters.
Antonius was convicted of distributing a book that claimed some of Islam’s holiest shrines were symbols of genitalia, as well as pamphlets describing the religion as a violent one.
Read original post here: Light Sentence Demanded for Alleged Religious Riot Lead
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