Update on this story from the ASSIST News Service, with thanks to LA:
JAKARTA (ANS) -- The three women charged with violating Indonesia's 2002 Child Protection Act by Christianizing Muslim children were found guilty today of all charges in an Indonesian court charged with anti-Christian radicals.Jeff Hammond, director of Bless Indonesia Today, told ANS Dr. Rebecca Laonita, Mrs. Ratna Mala Bangun, and Mrs. Ety Pangesti, who conducted a “Happy Week” (or “Happy Sunday”) program in their homes in early May, were found “guilty of all charges” and given a sentence of three years.
Hammond pointed out that the guilty verdict was pronounced, even though the children had their parents’ permission to attend, and none of them had changed their religion.
He said the verdict may actually have spared the three a worse fate, as the witnesses and judges were “constantly under the threats of violence from hundreds of Islamic radicals, who threatened to kill the three ladies, witnesses, pastors, missionaries--and even the judges--if the women were acquitted.”
An expected outcome, unfortunately. You can read more disgusting details about the kind of pressure the 'tolerant' Muslims have been applying to the judges during the hearings here: http://www.acage.org/news/?day=09012005&id=0007
Do not hesitate. It is really revealing.
-----------------------------
dolphin, CAGE co-founder.
http://www.acage.org
Madness.
Three years for conducting a "Happy Week", and the less the two years for killing hundreds in Bali.
But Indonesia is moving to a democratic state. So more aid from the West.
The more you give in billions in Tsunami and other aid, the more cocky they will get. The corollary also holds.
This is one of those stories that should be brought to the attention of all Americans and yet it will never see the light of day in the MSM, because they think it should be shuttled over into the Christian bin - to Christian oriented radio or TV.
And so a basic human rights issue goes unreported because it involves Christians and the practice of Christianity in particular.
Clip it out - memorize the facts - three kindly older Christian women (your mother, aunts or sisters) jailed for Three Years for the Crime of Teaching Sunday School.
These kind of stories are reported here at JW with sickening regularly. Shouldn't the regular main stream headlines be screaming?? What about the tabloids? Where is everybody?
As you say DP, 3 years for holding a Sunday school and (grudgingly) 2 years for being complicit in the Bali bombing sums up the situation nicely. I would hope and expect Amnesty International will be on this one.
"Hammond pointed out that the guilty verdict was pronounced, even though the children had their parents’ permission to attend, and none of them had changed their religion."
Sounds like our own beloved ACLU attacking a Texas High School for a Friday night football pre-game prayer.
I didn't know Indonesia was run by the ACLU.
"A righteous [man] regardeth the life of his beast: but the tender mercies of the wicked [are] cruel."
Proverbs 12:10 pretty much sums it up.
And Indonesia is held up as a "free" Democracy.
This result goes without saying. I mean this is an Islamic country that murdered 200,000 odd Catholic East Timorese (while my pathetic Australian Labor Gov't of the time, Gough Whitlam (lefty) gave his consent). And how many convictions for this mass murder?
Answer:- NONE! They haven't found an infidel that they can pin it on yet!
Does the UN or World Court care? ANS: Nope!
Massive illegal timber operations continue to decimate Indonesia's last remaining tropical rainforests and no one can seem to identify these so-called timber barons (who apparently are NOT all ethnic Chinese) that perpetuate this illegal 'business.'. There remains a nagging question: WHO actually IS behind the illegal and massive clear-felling of Indonesian hardwood trees and selling them on the black market??????????????
WHO COULD IT BE??????????????????????????????
One clue: Much of the illegal timber stripping occurs in supposedly legally protected reserves and national parks--conservation in this form you will remember is a western innovation. Al qaeda has outlawed ALL western influence in Islamic areas. Hmmmmm. Isn't al-Qaeda rampant in Indonesia currently? I believe it is.
Now, has anyone in the western-run environmental ngos like RAN bothered to investigate a link between Indonesian mosque leaders and jihadists and huge illicit timber sales out of Indonesia onto the global black market? If not- and they are serious about saving Indonesia's once-magnificent tropical forests- it is URGENT they look into an Islamic-jihadist connection. It's there. The clock is ticking towards midnight.
And why not? Illicitly harvested timber is as good as laundered money. You can cut trees anywhere (jihadists may well be involved in illegal logging in America too!). An Indonesian dipterocarp may have up to $25,000.00 worth of hardwood on it. Cut a thousand of such trees every day--what a jihad bonanza bonanza! You could blow up NY for less. Incidentally, Taliban stripped forests in Afghanistan with spectacular speed and efficiency, I remember reading.
I recently spoke to a friend of mine who lived in indonesia 28 years (he's finally DONE with the place...for good). When I mentioned to him the prospect of Indonesian illicit timber and gold mining being operated by fronts of al-Qaeda he informed me that this is "entirely possible." He personally knew many Indonesian timber tycoonc and told me (later revealed in media stories)that 1-)many Indonesian timber tycoon CEO conduct both legal AND "unlawful" timber harvesting businesses. 2-)Indonesian timber CEOs lean toward fanatical Islamist beliefs' and3-)these same people routinely visit Saudi Arabia for both personal and business reasons.
For now Indonesians act like Middle Easterners. Soon their country is going to replicate its hideous lunar landscape. Well, you get what you deserve. I think it's called karma.
Thanks for the link Dolphin, very enlightening.
This is nothing more than a witch hunt in a primative society. The villagers drinkith too much out of the cup of Islam me thinks.
It just shows once again that Islam is a poisonous concoction that steals one's humanity. Some gift to mankind Mohammed!
When Indonesia claimed independence from Dutch rule they also made claimed all of the Dutch territories, which included West Papua New Guinea (Irian Jawa). Of course nobody asked the PNG people if they wanted to live under Indonesian rule. The Dutch had planned to give PNG full autonomy - but the Indonesians invaded in Dec. 1961. The locals rounded up the Indonesian invaders and arrested them.
The US worked behind the scenes and forced the Netherlands to surrender West New Guinea to Indonesia under the provision of the New York Agreement of 1961, which ratified that the authority would transfer to a UN Temporary Executive Authority (UNTEA ) - who would then hand the territory to Indonesia in May 1963... Until such time as a UN-conducted 'Act of free Choice' program could determine the will of the people.
Australia was staunch a supporter of The Netherlands right up to until the US forced the handover to Indonesia.
There have been many leaked reports since 1962 of Indonesian government suppression, murder, political assignations, terrorism and political imprisonment, and the strafing of native villages (resulting in some 100,00 government sponsored deaths). The UN and the free world turned a blind eye to all those atrocities.
In 1969, Indonesia conducted (under much controversy) the 'Act of Free Choice' - except prior to the vote, the Paupuan tribal leaders were rounded up and detained for a month, threatened daily with death if they did not vote to remain under Indonesian rule.
During the 1990s Indonesian accelerated its transmigration program and bought in 1.2 million (mostly Muslims from Sumatra and Java ) to outnumber the locals and tip the scales towards a Muslim majority. The Papuan separatists congress in 2000 again called for independence - which resulted in a vicious military crackdown by brutal thugs sent in from Jakarta.
The OPM (Organisms Papua Merdeka) is still active, but disorganised. They do not have the power to rise up and kick out these brutal Indonesian murderers and thugs who marched in under the full support and approval of America, Australia (the lefty government of the time acted to appease Indonesia) and the UN, and laid claim to their land.
We must ask ... who will the Indonesians annex next? The rest of New Guinea?
If radical Indonesian Muslims manage to infiltrate Irian Jawa, Australia is only a step away, with an unguarded coastline. How easy would it be to smuggle in a few boatloads of jihadis? Indonesia is more of a danger than people realise.
The Christians in Indonesia urgently need help and support to pressure the Indo. government to protect the minorities and abolish all laws that discriminate against minorities.
The sad thing is that the majority of Muslim in Indonesia, including middle class college educated Muslims, believe that there is no discrimination against minorities. The law that is frequently used to support the closure and storming of churches by muslim thugs, is not seen as being against freedom of religion.
The Head of the Police in West Java, where while Sunday services were being conducted, said that those actions were not anarchy.
The Indonesian president a few days ago said that human rights in Indonesia have improved, both the laws and the implementation of it.
I see a very bleak future for the christians in Indonesia.
jasmine
"The Head of the Police in West Java, where while Sunday services were being conducted, said that those actions were not anarchy."
Sorry it should read:
The head of the police in West Java, where 20 some churches were recently closed by muslim thugs, some while Sunday service were being conducted, sait that those actions were not anarchy.
Jasmine
DianaC - your description of what happened in Paupa sounds like what will happen in Australia when the "Peace Lovers" gain office in Australia (where thanks to oil money covering the wolf in sheeps clothing, the ignorant will vote for them as the dollars flow in).
What you describe is scary indeed, yet it is so true.
"The Seeds of Terror" by Maria Ressa takes a look at the muslim agression and government complicity in the southeast asian region. They are quickly catching up to the middle east in terror organizations and goals.
Remember that every time you buy clothes with the label Made in Malaysia, or Made in Indonesia.
500 thousand chinese and other, acussed of communism, were murdered by muslims in indonesia, it was very well put in "Living dangerously" with Mel Gibson, US many times, have protected too much to muslims.
And Timor, thanks to Portugal and Australia, is independent because Suharto with the support of US didn´t allow before.
Greetings
Yet another abomination from those who would have the rest of the world believe in the beauty and innate justice of shariah. How is this to be stopped? Should Mormon missionaries target known descendants of Mohammed? Just one conversion would turn the fellow from a so-called prophet into a posthumous Mormon. Then the Ulema would have to condemn Mohammed as an apostate!
While one might expect religious tolerance to develop as humanity itself grows up, this looks to be nigh impossible in Islamic countries. Therefore, until such time as justice makes itself known in the Moslem world in a comprehensible form, at least let there be no introduction of any kind of shariah anywhere else in the world (are you listening Ontario?). It is a proven tool of the enemies of justice, mercy and decency.
More information and pictures.
Muslims brought a coffin to bury the women if they were acquited. Amazing. Brazen.
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=46096