International
Christian Concern (ICC) has learned that an elderly Indonesian Catholic
was detained by the police on August 9, after Muslims accused him of
insulting Islam and the Prophet Muhammad on social media.
Apollinaris Darmawan, 70, who lives in Bandung, West Java, allegedly made insulting comments on Twitter. He put in his profile, “Islam is not a religion, but a heretical teaching that silences and uncivilizes its people.”
The Muslim-turned-Catholic man also used other channels such as YouTube
to post an anti-Islam video, and has written a book titled Six Ways Toward God, in which he encourages readers to search for the truth.
UCA News reported
that Darmawan’s posts angered local Muslims, who then stormed his home
on August 8, dragged him into the street, and stripped him before the
police came and took him into custody.
Head of the Bandung
Police Criminal Investigation Unit (Satreskrim), AKBP Galih Indragiri,
said that they are investigating Darmawan’s case after a Muslim
community group reported his activities.
“Last Sunday, we named him a suspect and we detained him at the Bandung Police Precinct," said
Galih in Bandung on Monday. He is being charged with the Information
and Electronic Transactions Law, which could lead to a maximum sentence
of six years in prison and a fine of 1 billion rupiah ($72,000 USD).
Darmawan had been previously imprisoned under similar charges. In 2015,
he was prosecuted by the South Jakarta Metro Police and sentenced to
four years in prison for insulting Islam. He was only freed in March
2020.
Andreas Harsono from Human Rights Watch shared with ICC, “It is difficult [for him] to avoid prosecution under the current situation.” He also confirmed with ICC that Darmawan has not yet hired a lawyer to represent him.
Gina Goh, ICC’s Regional Manager for Southeast Asia, said, “While
it is true that Darmawan unwisely criticized Islam on the internet, and
this was not his first time provoking Muslims, the blasphemy laws in
Indonesia make it easy for anyone who is non-Muslim to be targeted and
prosecuted. If an Indonesian Muslim insults other religions, however, he
or she would easily get away. This shows the double standard of the
laws, which need to be addressed by the Indonesian government.”
International Christian Concern is a non-partisan, 501(c)(3) charitable organization focused on human rights, religious freedom and assisting the persecuted Christian Church around the world.
Media Contact
Olivia Miller, Communications Coordinator
E-mail: press@persecution.org
Phone: (301)-859-3842
International Christian Concern
2020 Pennsylvania Ave. NW #941, Washington, D.C. 20006
www.persecution.org | E-mail: icc@persecution.org
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