According to the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), "in some parts of the country, discrimination and violence against religious minorities continue, often instigated or inspired by hardline individuals and groups."
Source/Credit: The Kingston Whig-Standard
By Geoffrey Johnston | September 28, 2017
A popular and honest Christian politician is cooling his heels in an Indonesia prison on a trumped-up blasphemy charge.
What was his supposed crime? He had the audacity to state publicly that Muslims could vote for a Christian running for public office.
Basuki Tjahaja Purnama is the former governor of Jakarta who fought against corruption and ran an efficient administration. But that wasn't good enough for Indonesia's increasingly powerful Islamist movement. They were offended that a Christian of Chinese heritage was in a position of public trust and authority.
Purnama, popularly known as Ahok, got into trouble on the re-election trail when he accurately stated that his political opponents were manipulating a verse from the Qur'an, the Muslim holy book, in order to whip up sectarian passions and divide voters along religious lines.
Challenging the false Islamist narrative landed Ahok in the dock. He was arrested on a trumped-up blasphemy charge and convicted without evidence. In May 2017, he was sentenced to two years in prison, which he is currently serving.
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