Indonesian court lets anti-Ahmadi mob perpetrators off 'lightly'

Only three members of a violent mob handed light sentences after they killed members of Ahmadiyah sect in Indonesia.


Afp July 28, 2011

SERANG, INDONESIA: In what seems to have been a light sentence, an Indonesian court on Thursday sentenced religious fanatics who killed three members of the minority Ahmadiyah Muslim sect in a frenzied mob attack to between three and six months in jail.

Dani bin Misra, a 17-year-old who smashed a victim's skull with a stone, received three months for manslaughter. While Idris bin Mahdani, who led the mob of more than 1,000 Muslims in the February attack, was convicted of illegal possession of a machete and received five months and 15 days in jail.

Twelve people stood for trial, but none faced murder charges in what human rights activists termed was a travesty of justice in the world's most populous Muslim-majority country.

The unprovoked violence against the Ahmadiyah sect members in Cikeusik, western Java, was one of the most horrific in a long line of attacks on the minority group in Indonesia in recent years.

Ahmadiyah, unlike mainstream Muslims, do not believe Mohammed was the last prophet and are regarded as heretics and blasphemers by conservatives in places like Indonesia and Pakistan.

A secretly filmed video of the attack brought religious violence in Indonesia under the international spotlight, and provoked condemnation from the United States, Italy and international rights groups.

"When the Cikeusik video went viral, people around the world were shocked and appalled by the savagery of the mob kicking and slashing three men to death," Human Rights Watch Deputy Director for Asia Phil Robertson said.

"But instead of charging the defendants with murder and other serious crimes, prosecutors came up with an almost laughable list of 'slap-on-the wrist' charges.

"The Cikeusik trial sends the chilling message that attacks on minorities like the Ahmadiyah will be treated lightly by the legal system. This is a sad day for justice in Indonesia."

 

COMMENTS (24)

T Khan | 12 years ago | Reply

@Tanoli: What 'work of messenger 'are the ullemas doing in the Muslim world... care to deliberate??? AnHazour SAW was indeed the last prophet of Allah with sharia, but Allah has not forsaken His creation. Is that so hard to believe??? Ahmadies believe in Khatam-e-Nabouwat, but Allah has not closed the door to umati nabi. Muslims today are ready to welcome a nabi of fore gone days, the nabi of Christianity as the final savior of the world, but would not consider that Allah's guidance and Our Holy Prophet's teaching is worthy to give a man from his umat the status of Esa-e-Mohamadi??? As far as the parliament declaring Ahmadies non Muslim, to date the proceedings of what happened in the parliament has been kept secret from public eye. If it was such a remarkable decision in the history of Islam why are the reasons kept secret?? It was a political decision and nothing more. This is exactly the point I made in the first place. Have you ever bothered to investigate the truth yourself or listening and believing is enough for you?? The last verse of Surah Fatihah is a DUA ...' O Allah save us from the path of zualeen.' Promises of Allah are for those who follow the 'Sirat-e-Mutakeem'

AnisAqeel | 12 years ago | Reply

Disgusting, where justice system is driven by might and ignorant discuss to justify brutal killings as Islamic. Please note what Quran says, if "one person killed innocently, the whole humanity is killed' and here a brutal and disgusting killings and disrespecting the dead bodies is being justified by some. This is called brain washed minds following blindly.

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