He tried to find out who had decapitated one of his statues, and in the course of doing so asked the locals what kind of Muslims they were -- and was thus accused of blaspheming Islam. This resulted in the wrecking of his home and the torching of his motorcycle. "A Second Villa Trashed in Lombok after Alleged Insult to Islam," from the Jakarta Globe, September 7 (thanks to Twostellas):
Lombok. A second foreigner residing on Lombok Island in Indonesia has found himself the object of local wrath for allegedly defiling Islam during the fasting month of Ramadan.Locals from Sidemen village on Lombok's main tourism area of Senggigi told the Jakarta Globe on Tuesday that hundreds of residents had attacked and wrecked a villa belonging to a German national and torched his motorcycle for blaspheming Islam.
Police identified the man as Stephen Alexander, 35, also known as Abu-Can Peter.
Mustan, a local, said Alexander discovered that a vandal had decapitated one of the statues in front of his villa on Monday evening and took the severed head to the home of village chief Amalsah.
"He came carrying the statue head and got angry at the village chief, accusing the villagers of damaging his statues."
Alexander threatened to report the vandalism to the police if Amalsah could not find the vandal within two weeks, Mustan said.
He said villagers had just finished tarawih (evening prayers during Ramadan) and were insulted when Alexander demanded to know, "What kind of Muslims we were?"
"His words were deeply hurtful."
As Alexander fled for the forest, the enraged villagers trashed the resident's villa and burned his motorcycle.
Alexander, who has lived in the Lombok for ten years and is married to an Indonesian, only emerged from the forest when police arrived. They promptly arrested the expatriate and are holding him in protective custody at Senggigi Police headquarters.
Luke Gregory Lloyd, 64, meanwhile, is facing the prospect of six years in jail after he was charged with blaspheming Islam and immigration violations after disrupting a late-night Koran recital in a mosque near his house in Kuta, Lombok, on Aug. 22.
Police allege the American expatriate barged into the prayer session with his shoes on, unplugged a microphone and may have even assaulted one of the worshippers.
Lloyd, whose home was also trashed, denies the charges.
The German man asked them what kind of Moslems they were.
Somehow I can envision this. The fellow, naturally outraged at the damage to his property, decorated to suit his tastes, approaching the villagers for their help in fixing the problem and getting less than the level of cooperation that he expected. Exasperated, he resorts to appealing to their conscience as he would to normal human beings.
He's lived in Indonesia for ten years and still does not know? Moslems can be shamed but they cannot be made to feel guilty. He succeeded in shaming them when he, as a kafir, upbraided them. The results were garden variety Moslem frothing, complete with his arrest when the police finally arrived on the scene. What kind of Moslems were these? Perhaps now he knows: There is only Islam.
Alexander demanded to know, "What kind of Muslims we were?"
I guess he found out.
The Muslims were deeply hurt dontchaknow. How else could they react ?
Mr Alexander is almost totally at fault for having "lost his head," and I'm surprised that having lived in that area for ten years and furthermore, being married to an Indonesian, and himself having taken a Muslim name, did not know the Muslim feelings about Idols and false worship of "Partners of Allâh."
Strict Islamic doctrine considers any representation of humans to be haram, the underlying rationalisation being that such representation may corrupt the faithful into the respecting and worship of idols. The apparent Muslim vandal was only following the dictates of his religion and the example of Muhammed (as he destroyed the 360 competing gods of the Ka'aba).
Had Mr Alexander been living in a truly secular society, such as the USA, his statues would have been legally safe from such defacement, as private property, no matter his religion or that of the vandal.
Mr Gregory's actions can only be characterised as nuts, certainly as those of a person whose rationality has deserted him. I sincerely doubt that he would have interrupted services at a church or synagogue in the same unseemly manner. For a person whose immigration documentation is not in order, his actions were just plain stupid.
Both men acted as if they had full entitlement to rights which simply were not available to them as (presumably) non-Muslims, insulted the local people (it is their country), and then insisted on maintaining a peremptorily dismissive attitude toward local custom.
Both men acted in ways that Muslims sometimes act in non-Islamic societies, demanding special treatment and not willing to budge an inch in consideration of others or even in hopes of being granted that special treatment. How Islamic!
Both men violated a time-honored tradition older than both Christianity and Islam, and very logical in its application and accruing benefits:
"When in Rome, do as the Romans do!"
It's that anger thing, suddenly boiling over.
Jockaira
I think we should be careful about jumping to conclusions re. Mr Lloyd - or, for that matter, Mr Alexander.
Read the last three paragraphs again. Here they are:
"Luke Gregory Lloyd, 64, meanwhile, is facing the prospect of six years in jail after he was charged with blaspheming Islam and immigration violations after disrupting a late-night Koran recital in a mosque near his house in Kuta, Lombok, on Aug. 22.
"Police allege the American expatriate barged into the prayer session with his shoes on, unplugged a microphone and may have even assaulted one of the worshippers.
"Lloyd, whose home was also trashed, denies the charges."
See that last line - 'Lloyd, whose home was also trashed, denies the charges'.
**What if he's telling the truth?**
What we have in this story is the word of Muslims - a dramatic, elaborate story - versus the word of a non-Muslim. (We don't have Mr Alexander's version of what he did and said, at all...neither a denial nor an affirmation of what he's said to have done).
Remember how many stories we have read, out of Pakistan, featuring completely false charges of blasphemy made against non-Muslims (or, for that matter, other Muslims against whom the accuser had a grudge).
What if Mr Alexander and Mr Lloyd, non-Muslims foolishly choosing to reside in a Muslim land, and who had perhaps believed the superficial smiles and wiles of their nice moderate Muslim Indonesian neighbours, were simply attacked pretty much out of the blue by rioting mobs full of Ramadan jihad frenzy - with the charges against them trumped up ex post facto to justify the attacks?
Does anybody here find that implausible?
Remember: for Muslims, the word of a Muslim always trumps that of a non-Muslim. In Muslim lands this means that Muslims can do what they damn well like to non-Muslims, since if it comes to court, the Muslim version of what happened will always be the one that is believed and acted upon, even if it is as false as hell; only if a non-Muslim who has been assaulted and/ or slandered can somehow bribe or persuade a Muslim to support his or her account of what happened, do they have a hope of gaining something like justice.
If you read the article carefully, you will see that we are entirely dependent on Muslim 'witnesses' - a Mr Mustan, in the case of Mr Alexander's alleged insult to Muslims, and no particular named person, in the case of Mr Lloyd - for the luridly detailed stories of offences against Muslims.
Here is the story about Mr Gregory Lloyd, as it appeared in the Aussie ABC on 30 August.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/08/30/2997783.htm?section=justin
Man charged after pulling plug on mosque loudspeaker
'Indonesian authorities have arrested an American man for blasphemy after he pulled the plug on a loudspeaker at a mosque because it woke him up, police said.
'Luke Gregory Lloyd, 64, was taken into custody after he disrupted a nightly Koran reading session near his home on Lombok island which was being broadcast over the mosque's loudspeaker during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
'The incident happened on August 22 and Lloyd has been under police guard at a hotel ever since, pending further investigations.
"He got angry as the Koranic reading woke him up. He scolded people in the mosque before pulling out the loudspeaker's cable," police officer Lalu Mahsun told reporters.
'He could face five years in jail under the mainly Muslim country's blasphemy laws.
'Police also said Lloyd's visa had expired in 2006.
- AFP
In this report (which omits all mention of Mr Lloyd's house having been 'trashed' - and notice we aren't told, in the other report, precisely when the trashing took place) we are dependent on the local Indonesian police, in particular, 'police officer Lalu Mahsun'; it's impossible to tell, from the report, whether Mr Mahsun himself saw the events he's talking about or whether he is merely relaying what the Muslims in the village/ at the mosque *told* him had happened; and we do know, from the later report Mr Spencer has brought to our attention, that Mr Lloyd says he didn't do what the Muslims are saying he did.
Some further thoughts, based on this earlier report , and the later one which gives us the information that Mr Lloyd denied the charges.
The descriptions of what Mr Lloyd is said to have done, have him behaving in a very 'Muslim' manner: barging onto someone else's turf, angrily telling people off, and pulling the plug. 'Commanding right and forbidding wrong'..
I find it completely plausible that this whole luridly dramatic tale of the angry, blasphemous American Infidel, storming into the mosque - WITH HIS SHOES ON - and pulling the plug on the loudspeakers in the midst of the Koran recitation, may be a fabrication from beginning to end. What if Mr Lloyd's house was simply attacked by a screaming Ramadan mob, because he presented the nearest infidel target...with the story of his blasphemous intrusion into the mosque made up afterward, out of whole cloth?
lol, that was what a Muslim in England did. He barged into a church because the singing disturbed his peace and quiet.
Mr Lloyd's experience is very likely a projection of not unusual Muslim behavior.
Imagine if you will, it's late at night and you are trying to sleep, and you have a pillow around your ears but you can still hear the constant nonstop braying of a donkey outside your window. That’s what it feels like to be near one of these mosques during their special holy times. Perhaps he tried to told them to tone it down or maybe he tried to stop this but was assaulted by the enraged Muslims who promptly
trashed his house. He should have known things like this could happen when he started living among these small, brown, ever smiling Islamic savages. Poor fool.
DDA,
I understand exactly what you are saying...please understand what I'm saying.
First I am assuming that both Alexander and Gregory were non-Muslims. I know that Indonesia is a Muslim-majority country (86%), that the Islam practiced there is slightly different and slightly more tolerant of Kaffira then in most Muslim countries, but I also believe that any Kaffir from Europe or the USA moving to Indonesia has to be slightly imbalanced, or deluded, or has been sold a pig in the poke by a sharp realtor.
Who moves to a different country, committing himself to years there without checking it out completely beforehand. Alexander was apparently enamored with Islam as evidenced by his taking of an Arabic name in a country where even most Muslims do not. If he's gonna go along with the program then he shouldn't complain when he runs afoul of the rules.
Gregory had lived there for six years, which means he had experienced at least five other Ramadans and their attendant foofahrah. Blowing a gasket during the sixth just shows how unrealistic were his expectations.
As you say, we don't know the whole story, and probably never will, but the facts above are reasonable suppositions according to the story as written. Thereby I will stand with my original summation.
"When in Rome, do as the Romans do!"
Any other course is only the result of self-induced fantasy resulting in the loss of one's cool when confronted with the reality of living with people whose beliefs are adapted to another age far in the distant past.
Both men should apologise profusely and sincerely to those offended, and make a solemn pledge to themselves to live in peace with their weird neighbors or sell their real estate and go home.
PS to DDA,
I would tell the same thing to a Muslim:
"If you don't like the way we do things here, then go home!"
This article claims that the guy is a Muslim:
http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/home/another-expats-home-stormed-in-ramadan-riot-on-lombok/395146
"Alexander, who is also a Muslim, had been “warned” to remove the statues because they resembled Hindu deities."
and so the Muslims became "offended" and we all know what happens then, oh my.
Thanks, that was a nice snippet. Alexander should know better but he likely lived in an isolated bubble of "Islam is Peace™, tolerance© and harmony©".
I have to agree with dumbledor's army.
I think this shows all the signs of Muslim fabrication.
The guy probably pointed an accusing finger at the Muslim who decapitated the statue. They, in turn, trash his house, so he goes to their mosque, steamed after having his house trashed, the Muslims probably turned their loudspeakers up to irritate him after that as well, so he went over in the heat of the moment and pulled the plug.
I'd be pissed as well.
The guy will be prosecuted because he is a kafir living in dar al Islam.
You do need to read both reports - the one posted by Robert, and the one I added, carefully.
There are not one but two kafir living in Lombok - in different villages, I think.
One was German, and possibly a foolish convert to Islam.
The other was American, and is known only by an infidel name, so is probably NOT a convert to Islam.
Both guys got their houses trashed by screaming Muslim mobs.
Both guys have been taken into 'protective' (sic) custody by the local (Muslim) police.
The police (who are Muslim) and the locals - including those who did the rioting, one must presume - have accused both men of insulting Islam/ Muslims; one has been formally accused of blasphemy, and also of having a visa that expired 4 years ago.
About one man, we don't know whether he has admitted or denied doing and saying what the Muslims say he did; we *do* know that the other man *has* denied the charges made against him.
Infidel # 1, Mr Stephen Alexander Abu-Can, originally from Germany, is supposed to have complained of the vandalistic decapitation of a statue on his property, and to have insulted Muslims in the wording of his complaint; his house and motorbike were trashed by a howling Muslim mob and he hid in the scrub.
Infidel #2, Mr Gregory Lloyd, originally from the USA and in Indonesia on some kind of residency visa, is supposed to have gotten mad at having his sleep disturbed by mosque broadcasting of koran recitation, barged into the mosque without taking off his shoes, scolded the Muslims there present, possibly assaulted someone, and pulled the plug on the loudspeakers.
I must repeat I have grave difficulty in believing this tale (which, as we know, Mr Lloyd has denied): it is far too luridly dramatic, and sounds *exactly* like the kind of story a bunch of Muslims would invent, for the behaviour sounds much more like Muslim behaviour, than that of an Infidel who has lived in a village in Indonesia for some time, in heavily-Islamised Lombok (90+ % of Lombok inhabitants are Muslims).
Me, I wouldn't be in the least surprised were some western journalist to discover, on interviewing the two accused Infidels, that (in the bewildered Infidels' experience) the riots happened and then they (the infidels) found out what the Muslims were saying they had done (which thing they [the infidels] had NOT done]...afterward.
I think it perfectly likely that the stories about the insulting remarks supposedly uttered by Mr Alexander, and about Mr Lloyd's theatrically crazy shoe-clad night raid upon the mosque, not to mention his alleged visa violation, were invented after the riots, by the Muslims, and may be Big Lies from beginning to end (the story of the Mr Lloyd's dramatic blaspheming of the mosque has all the marks of a Big Lie).
Alternatively, the stories about the two 'blasphemies' might even have first been spread about among the Muslims *in order* to whip up the mobs that then rushed the Infidels' homes...we have seen this kind of thing happen in Pakistan, way too often...the infidel, of course, often only finds out what he is being attacked and 'punished' for, either DURING or AFTER the riot, perhaps not until he's arrested and charged by the Muslim police
(notice, by the way, that in both reports there is nary a word about any Muslims being arrested for destruction of private property).
Under the blasphemy law, you are guilty until proven innocent and being tried you will be looted, tortured, raped, mutilated, and killed by the mob.
Alexander, who has lived in the Lombok for ten years and is married to an Indonesian, only emerged from the forest when police arrived. They promptly arrested the expatriate and are holding him in protective custody at Senggigi Police headquarters.
.............
Notice it is the *victim* who is in "protective custody" here. The same is true with the American, Lloyd. As is so often the case in Muslim countries, the police are very much the enforcers against non-Muslims (this holds true even if the German man is technically a convert—he still comes from Kaffir stock).
In a more "purely" Islamic land—such as Pakistan—the police would likely have joined in the violence, as well.
Thank you dumbledoresarmy - you are one of the few sane voices I've heard thru all this craziness.
FYI:
1) Gergory Luke IS a Muslim - he married a local muslim gal and converted.
2) You could not have hit the nail more accurately "on the head" if you had been there my friend....
Please read the following letter that I am circulating - incognito lest I face the same terrible fate as Greg - simply for exposing the truth.
ALL of the following is the absolute truth about the incident - other stories are complete fabrications, so easily swallowed by the masses that Greg has been consistently vilified by those who have absolutely NO first-hand knowledge of the events (even the press bureaus seem to have swallowed the fabricated stories - some reporting); he stomped on the Ku'ran; He slapped a worshiping child; he pulled the plug on the power to the mosque and/or he cut the power cable to the mosque; he yelled and screamed at those in attendance; he did not remove his shoes [by the way, he never even ENTERED the masjid - only got as far as the outside terrace before being assualted!], etc. etc. - all rubish, as I know from direct/personal experience.
So quick to judge the rest of you are. So gullible and ready to believe the worst. So terribly mistaken, and about, otherwise, to support a grave miscarriage of justice and an absolute, unmitigated violation of one's human rights - shame on you guys!
Here is the letter I am circulating - trying get some help for this poor guy (whom I barely know!):
---------------------------
Letter Of Protest and Advisement of Abuse of Rights of an American Citizen
Date: Sunday, September 12, 2010
To: World Press & News Bureaus, Global & Local Human Rights Organizations, Indonesia/Bali & Lombok Tourism Agencies and All Travel Agencies & Tourism Related Enterprises Promoting Tourism to Indonesia.
This letter is written to protest the shameful, repeated and escalating violation of a fellow American Citizen’s basic human rights. It is my hope that by writing this letter, those in positions of power and influence will circulate this incredible tale of unmitigated discrimination and abuse, and help to address the wrongs perpetrated against Gregory Luke - a completely innocent fellow American.
As I write this, Greg sits in a jail cell in Lombok, Indonesia incredibly, after he and his 5 year old son were the innocent victims of a completely unprovoked mob attack. The house he built and owns has been destroyed by these same people; all his personal belongings have been stolen or destroyed; he has been vanquished from the village in which he has peacefully lived for 10 years, and he now faces criminal prosecution by biased and blaming Lombok residents who have charged him with crimes against the community.
The “Event”:
Mr. Luke’s troubles began around 10 PM on the night of Sunday August 22, 2010 when Greg’s tenants complained of the incessant blaring from the masjid (mosque) and the almost non-stop amplified religious fervor of singing (often sounding more like screeching due to poor acoustics and volume on inexpensive, easily distorting speakers invariably turned up full), the playing of religious songs, chants and prayers – all with the volume of 4 huge PA system speakers turned up and so loud that it hissed, sputtered and distorted even the most melifluous incantations.
Greg had previously talked to those running the masjid about the always deafening and distorted broadcasts (which occurrs five times every day - including ceremonies at around 10 PM and at 4:30 AM) and had recently purchased for the masjid a set of high quality speakers so that the amplified broadcasts were at least not a terribly distorted screech. In return, the masjid had agreed, as many others do, to keep the volume lower during the late evening and early morning broadcasts. Turns out, all the did was add the new speakers to the old system (in spite of agreeing to use only the new ones) thus compounding the racket.
In response to the request of his tenants, Greg agreed to talk to the masjid and to respectfully request that the volume be turned down a bit. He walked over to the masjid, a few hundred meters from his house and rental and, when he reached the terrace outside the masjid, stopped, without entering the musholla (prayer room) and politely asked if the volume could be turned down a bit.
Young men often “hang out” outside the masjid at night – especially when attractive young women are praying inside and this night was no different than others. Immediately upon making this request one of these young men (described as “gangsters” by Greg’s best Indonesian friend of many years) walked directly up to Greg, thrusting his chest out in a display of aggression, and pushed Greg so hard that he fell to the ceramic floor of the terrace.
After regaining his balance, he said to the aggressor “this mosque needs to learn some manners” (a precise quote) said nothing more, then turned to walk away, not wanting any further confrontation with the aggressive young men now starting to gather in response to the incident. As he walked away, stones hurled at him by the group of men there began pelting him.
Scared by this unbelievable and completely unwarranted display of aggression, Greg hurried back to the safety of his house.
Over the next few hours a crowd of hundreds assembled outside his house – yelling and screaming insults and pelting his home with a barrage of rocks and bricks. Greg and his family huddled inside their house in fear. As windows began to break and the roof of the structure started to plummet down on them under the rain of large rocks assaulting his home, Greg felt increasingly fearful for his life and for that of his 5 year-old son and housekeeper who were also in the house.
In response, he directed his housekeeper, a local Indonesian woman, to take his 5 year-old son to safety, which she immediately did. He then called the Kuta police which, after more than an hour of delay, finally arrived at the house (in spite of the fact the Police Station is only a few hundred meters from Greg’s house!) with several officers who demanded that Greg take refuge in the tiny garage/room part of the house, where he and several officers stayed for quite a while as the remaining officers tried to quiet the crowd by firing their guns in the air – a fruitless effort as the crowd quickly realized that the officers would not use their weapons against them.
As the evening progressed, people continued to assault Mr. Luke’s property, eventually tearing down his exterior concrete walls with sledge hammers, then proceeded to completely destroy the house and loot it of all Greg’s possessions and set fire to the flammable areas of the structure and all of the contents they did not want/steal.
Later that evening, after the crowd had thinned out and it was safer to venture outside, Greg was hurriedly spirited away from the house and took refuge in a hotel in the city of Mataram, an hour’s drive from Kuta. There he stayed until on Saturday September 4, 2010 at 5 pm - almost 2 weeks later, when. several police officers appeared at his hotel room door and announced “you are under arrest”.
Mr. Luke now sits in a jail cell in the town of Praya, about 25 minutes drive from his Kuta, awaiting arraignment, apparently charged with the offences of “Interfering with a religious ceremony” and “Threatening bodily harm to others”.
Ramadan:
All of the above happened during Ramadan a Muslim a period supposed to be filled with forgiveness, fellowship amongst all (regardless of religious affiliation) and sympathy for the plight of others. Ramadan is a time of daytime fasting and contemplation which lasts for a lunar month of about 28 days. It commemorates the transmission of the Qur'an by the archangel Gabriel to Muhammad. This period of fasting, reflection, devotion, generosity and sacrifice is observed by Muslims around the world.
Through fasting, a Muslim is expected to experience hunger and thirst and to sympathize with those in the world who have little to eat every day. Through increased devotion, Muslims are to feel closer to their Creator, and recognize that everything they have in this life is a blessing from Him. Through increased charity, Muslims are supposed to develop feelings of generosity and good-will toward others. Through self-control, a Muslim is expected to practice good manners, good speech, and good habits. Through family and community gatherings, Muslims strengthen the bonds of brotherhood and sisterhood, in their communities and throughout the world. Much time during Ramadan is spent enjoying family and community, meals, engaging in prayer and spiritual reflection, and reading from the Qu'ran.
So, indeed… one does have to ask: “What kind of Muslims were they” (apparently, while a valid question, one that makes non-Muslims asking such questions the object of unmitigated abuse – witness the case of Stephen Alexander, also of Lombok!)
Greg’s Background (uncovered by my recent research in order to write this letter):
Greg Lloyd Luke is a gentle fellow, born 64 years ago in Chicago, USA. He graduated from college after studying to become a Civil Engineer then he served his country in the U.S. Navy from 1968 to 1970 as a communications officer on an aircraft carrier, primarily in Vietnam, with a later tour of duty in Bahrain.
Later, after receiving an honorable discharge from the Navy, he moved to Encinitas, California where he worked as a Civil Engineer. During the years 1980 to 1990 Greg created the 50 person engineering firm Luke Dudek Engineering, a profitable enterprise which he later sold. From 1986 to 1990 he also served as an Encinitas City Councilman.
From 1990 to 1994, after moving to Atascadero, CA (near San Luis Obispo), he held the post of Public Works Director for the city of Atascadero and started his second engineering firm, Greg Luke and Associates.
In the year 2000, after his daughter from his first marriage graduated from UCSB, Greg realized that he yearned for a quieter, simpler life, free from the hustle and bustle of the western world. By then he had then accumulated 1,000,000 miles of free airline travel. Realizing he could fly for free to anywhere in the world, he secured a ticket to Singapore and travelled through Asia, ending up in Bali, Indonesia which he liked, but found a bit too congested and developed for his taste.
While in Bali, he decided to visit the nearby island of Lombok, Indonesia and found himself in the south of Lombok in the small town of Kuta, which he immediately fell in love with - taking an instant liking to the seemingly friendly locals, the peaceful, quiet beauty, the area’s beaches and mountains and the lack of development in the then rather primitive small “desa” (village) of Kuta.
Soon after arriving in Kuta, Greg met and fell in love with a local Muslim gal and converted to Islam in order to marry her. They later raised their now five year-old son and lived peacefully in Kuta. He built a house there for himself and family, and a bungalow (the “Hideaway”) to rent to visitors to the area as there seemed precious few accommodations in spite of the rising needs of off-island visitors to Kuta - especially surfers who had increasingly discovered the area’s great surfing beaches.
Greg loved Kuta and continued to live peacefully there, supporting himself thru his Hideaway rental property income and sales of real estate, which he and other locals found relatively profitable and rewarding. He seemed liked, respected and appreciated in his new community and generously helped and supported others in the area. Among his many other gifts to the community and to those less fortunate than himself, he graciously offered to provide electric service to the local families living close by who did not have electricity– free of charge and generously paid the electric bill for everyone without a second thought.
Life in primitive of Kuta seemed prefect to Greg when he moved there… blissfully unaware then, that things would later take a horrible turn for the worse.
Analysis of Events:
Greg Luke is a respectful, peace-loving guy, completely undeserving of the ill-treatment he has suffered at the hands of a mob, whipped to a religious fervor by the worst elements of the Kuta community. Mr. Lulke has contributed to the Kuta community, respected the views and religious practices of his fellow residents and done far more than most in the area to share the best of his life, luck and the little he owns with others.
In exchange, the Kuta community has robbed him of his home, his reputation, his ability to earn a living and most of all the quiet and peaceful life he had and wants to continue living. Greg suffered an angry looting, completely disrespectful, unholy, destructive mob, who never once took the time to find out what really happened.
These same people knowing incited others into a quasi-jihad riot, told completely fabricated stories of Greg’s alleged offences (“he stomped on the Qu’ran”; “he slapped young children in the face during their religious practice”; “he disabled the speakers to the masjid by cutting the wires; “he defiled a 13 year old girl”, etc., etc.
What is more unbelievable than the lies being circulated against this gentle fellow is that not a single person in authority, including the police, local religious leaders, the Kapala Desa (village chief) or anyone else, save Greg’s friend Lalu Sungkul, is doing anything to right the matter or insure Greg has even the most basic human rights he is entitled to: protection under the law; remediation for wrongs perpetrated against him by criminals; and the taking to task or prosecution of the violators who appear to be nothing more than thugs parading under the guise of religious and community self-righteousness
In fact, the Kuta police Chief, who reportedly has announced he “does not like Bules” (foreigners) has done absolutely nothing to find or prosecute the offenders who attacked Mr. Luke, destroyed his home, looted his possessions and now attempt to have him convicted of wrong-doing. By way of example, I personally watched Mr. Luke’s house continue to be destroyed by locals wielding sledge-hammers the day after the incident, despite the yellow crime tape surrounding the property – apparently the Kuta police chief’s best effort to protect Greg’s property, all while the police officers blindly sat around the police station only a few hundred meters away!
The only bright spot in all of this is Greg’s best friend, Lalu Sungkul a teacher and well-respected member of the local community and a direct descendant of Indonesian royalty, who immediately came to Greg’s aide. In fact, it is likely that Lalu (the title means “royalty”) afforded the only protection for Greg from those who demanded Greg be killed (yes… KILLED) for his offences.
Mr. Luke has received numerous death threats, has had members of the community suggest that his land be expropriated, that he be deported from Indonesia as a persona non-grata, and that he be tried as a common criminal – all while the true criminals in this story face neither prosecution nor ostracism of any sort from their brethren or the authorities.
All these offences were committed under the guise of religion, yet no spiritual person would commit such gross violations against another human being, especially during Ramadan, a time supposed to be filled with forgiveness and blessings for all.
Affect on Community, Tourism and Expat Residents:
It is interesting to note that many of these same Kuta residents have enjoyed and profited from Greg’s largess, and that the vast majority in Kuta profess to want more visitors, development, jobs, together and the advancements of the modern life that come with such activity. Even more noteworthy is that, after the bombings and terrorism of early 2000, and the attendant drop in tourism, the Indonesian government, which itself professed a commitment to making Indonesia safe and welcoming to outsiders, sits idly by with closed eyes, apparently refusing to even acknowledge the shameful truth of Greg’s persecution and abuse.
By contrast, the treatment Greg has and still now suffers, shocks the expat community in Lombok and Bali. Those on Lombok feel especially threatened and that their well being, livelihoods and property are at grave risk. Some have decided to move away, others to close their businesses, and many more to cower , fearing similar reprisals.
Personally, I have concluded that Lombok, and especially Kuta, is not the safe, welcoming community that it once appeared to be. After investing hundreds of thousands of dollars in the community, and previously planning to retire in Lombok, like Mr. Luke, my family has now decides to selling all out property there and move away from Kuta as soon as possible, less we suffer the same undeserved abuse.
I share the wholly warranted concerns of other expats to such great extent that, regrettably, I am forced to submit this material incognito if identified, my life and the lives of my family and children may well be at stake.
Notwithstanding this fact, I feel compelled to appeal to the world community and press. Something has to be done about this. Innocent, gentle people, regardless of their religious affiliation or political views must be made safe and whole in this world. If Indonesia continues to turn blind eyes to such shameful behavior, then it will certainly suffer the consequences, not just in terms of the quality of life here, but more importantly, in terms of sever damage to the Indonesian economy.
Please help. Please publicize this tale. Please assist in any way you can to shine the light of world opinion on the indecent and the barbaric behavior of those who have and continue to wrong Mr. Luke.
For further information, pictures or details, I can be reached thru email to my alias: LombokTaleOfTerror@gmail.com
Your support in exposing the truth is most appreciated.
Sincerely,
A concerned Lombok resident who
MUST remain anonymous for fear of reprisals