Shortened Terms for Imprisoned Christians in Indonesia
Basuki Tjahaja Purnama.
In Indonesia, 9,333 Christian prisoners were granted an early release for the Christmas holidays, thanks to the Indonesian Ministry of Law and Human Rights.
This pardon – which could only be applied to prisoners having already served six months in jail – affected Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, the former Christian governor of Djakarta, condemned in May of 2017 to two years in prison.
During a speech in September of 2016 for the gubernatorial elections, he declared that the ulamas’ interpretation of a verse from the Koran, according to which a Muslim could only vote for another Muslim, was erroneous. This statement earned him two years in prison for blasphemy on May 9, 2017.
This Christmas season, Basuki Tjahaja Purnama thus received a …two-week reduction. “The Indonesian government traditionally grants prisoners this benefit for good conduct, on Independence Day or important religious feast days,” explained Clotilde Dumay in La Croix.
In Indonesia, the Nativity is celebrated by Christians, who represent nearly 10% of a mostly Muslim population.
Sources: Fides / La Croix / FSSPX.News
