ICC Note:

The news publication The Economist has weighed in on the trial of Jakarta’s Christian-Chinese Governor known as Ahok. The freedom of religion in Indonesia, which is guaranteed for six religions (including Christianity) under Indonesian law, has come increasingly under fire as radical Islam gains ground and becomes more politically involved. Ahok represented a positive step for tolerance in the world’s most populous Muslim nation. Now, the reputation Indonesia once had for religious tolerance is in question. Christians and Chinese have often been the target of violence and persecution in Indonesia, with outbreaks such as the 1998 Jakarta riots targeting and claiming the lives of hundreds of Chinese Indonesians. Now, as Ahok stands trial for blasphemy for charges of blasphemy against the Quran, the fear of discrimination is present yet again. The Economist said, “At best, Ahok’s persecution represents a blow to the rights of all Indonesian minorities…At worst, the risk of communal bloodshed like that of two decades ago is closer.”

12/22/2016 Indonesia (The Economist) – WHEN the citizens of Jakarta, Indonesia’s capital, voted for Basuki Tjahaja Purnama as their vice-governor in 2012, it seemed a hopeful moment. He and his popular boss, Joko Widodo, had promised a bold programme of urban renewal to save the creaky, sinking and car-clogged metropolis. What’s more, the world’s largest Muslim-majority democracy seemed to enhance its reputation for tolerance. Mr Basuki,known as Ahok, is ethnic Chinese and a Christian: rarely before had an Indonesian from a minority community and religion risen so high.

Suddenly, Indonesia’s reputation for tolerance is in question. After Mr Joko, or Jokowi, ran for president and won by a landslide two years ago, Ahok assumed the Jakarta governorship. Just three months ago, Ahok still looked to be a shoo-in for the gubernatorial race next February. Since then, however, huge rallies organised by hardline Islamist groups have brought hundreds of thousands of anti-Ahok protesters to central Jakarta. Because of those protests, he himself is in court on blasphemy charges.

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