04/09/2019 Indonesia (International Christian Concern) – On April 6, more than 11 wooden crosses were pulled out, damaged and burnt at the Bethesda Christian cemetery in Mrican, Yogyakarta.

According to Asia News, the keeper of the cemetery, Hari Yuniarto, reports that in the ten years since he has held the job, he has never seen such vandalism, which is under police investigation.

It remains unknown who removed and vandalized these wooden crosses, typically used for the first 1,000 days after the funeral of the deceased.

Mr. Trianto, whose father-in-law’s grave marker went missing, believes that the perpetrator(s) might have committed this act to provoke Christians living in and around Yogyakarta.

This latest incident, however, was not new to this region. In recent months, religious intolerance was shown time and again in Yogyakarta, a de facto Islamic sultanate on the island of Java. In December 2018, more than 19 Christian tombs were vandalized, crosses desecrated in Purbayan and Magelang.

Just last week, a Catholic painter named Slamet Jumiarto was kicked out from his just-moved-in community with his family for being “non-Muslim.”

For interviews with Gina Goh, ICC’s Regional Manager, please contact Olivia Miller, Communications Coordinator: [email protected]