His explanation is incoherent: "The fact is that the judges in the case handed down the maximum sentence, so the rioting had nothing to do with religious issues."
Let's review: The report below from a Jakarta newspaper says in its own words that Antonius Richmond Bawengan was on trial for "contempt of Islam." Bawengan had also insulted Catholics, but they declined to riot or call for his head.
By contrast, while Bawengan evidently got the maximum sentence allowable by law for "blasphemy," the Muslim crowd outside the court wanted him to get the death penalty, and a rampage ensued.
What did they go after? Three churches, an orphanage, and a health care center. And when they invaded the Catholic church, they attacked the altar and savagely beat the priest who tried to defend the tabernacle from desecration.
But no, this has nothing to do with religion, this police chief insists, possibly hoping that a policy of "Peace through Denial" may work. Or perhaps out of fear, loyalty, or both, he simply cannot bear to point out the Muslim persecution of Christians, however obvious it is to the rest of the world.
"Central Java Police Chief: Temanggung Riot Not Related to Religion," by Candra Malik for the Jakarta Globe, February 9 (thanks to Twostellas):
Temanggung, Central Java. The Central Java Police claimed on Wednesday that the attack a day earlier on two churches and a Christian school by Islamic hard-liners was not a religious conflict.
Central Java Police Chief Insp. Gen. Edward Aritonang said the attack, which also saw two other buildings vandalized, was "purely an act of criminal vandalism."
He added the fact that the mob had targeted Christian buildings did not prove that they were hostile to the religion.
"The mob attacked and destroyed a number of places, including churches, triggered by their dissatisfaction over a verdict handed down to Antonius Richmord Bawengan," he said.
"The fact is that the judges in the case handed down the maximum sentence, so the rioting had nothing to do with religious issues."
Antonius, a Christian on trial for contempt of Islam, was on Tuesday sentenced to five years in prison by the Temanggung District Court, as per the prosecution's demand, but the ruling angered hard-line Islamic groups that deemed it too lenient and subsequently went on the rampage.
Nine people were injured in the incidents, mostly from projectiles hurled by the attackers.
One person was arrested in the aftermath of the violence, and on Wednesday police announced they had made seven more arrests.
Well the police chief has to be an idiot or a moslem, most likely both!
The report below from a Jakarta newspaper says in its own words that Antonius Richmond Bawengan was on trial for "contempt of Islam." Bawengan had also insulted Catholics, but they declined to riot or call for his head.
.....................................
Not only did the Catholics fail to call for Bawengan's head, but they suffered along with their fellow Christians of other denominations at the hands of the Muslim mob—having a church, orphanage, and clinic attacked.
The beheaded statue of Jesus shown in the picture above is almost certainly from a Catholic church.
In addition, while Bewngan was tried for "blasphemy" against Islam, I notice that whatever insults he aimed at the Catholics were deemed unworthy of prosecution.
The Catholics were not calling for his prosecution, while the Muslims were dissatisfied with his being sentenced to *five years in prison*, and will be appeased with nothing but his murder.
Of course, Muslims do not see this as indicative of Christian sanity and mercy, but as a craven squeamishness at what it takes to "defend" their religion–something the crazed Muslim mob does not stick at.
"Nothing to do with religion"? This is about *nothing* but religion, and what Islam demands of its savage votaries, and of its dhimmi servants.
Jesus did warn that a day will come when people will try to kill you as a favour to God.
The more the 1'200'000'000 Peaceful Muslim stay mute on the Militant Muslims and Terrorist killing for Allah cause, the more it get tough to fall for the excuse that it's just a few misunderstanders of the true Peaceful islam.
Muhammed didn't have a clue about YouTube and the Internet that would uncover his charade in 1400 years where the Truth could no longer be hidden inside the Quran and Mosques.
In canada we just had 12 Muslims families new in Canada that demanded the school be Shariah Compliant to exmept Muslims from Music classes and Gym classes.
Yet they chose to come to canada when they were just hours away from Iran and Saudi Arabia where they would be more welcomed back to the 7th century.
ala sux
They are moving to our countries to colonize them. They are here to turn our countries into islamic nightmares like the ones they moved from. If they must live hellish lives to please ole allah then they want to make the rest of the world suffer too.
This is nothing but the tropical version of an old-school Eastern European pogrom.
Edward Aritonang: a graduate, summa cum laude no doubt, from the Clarence Dupnik School For Smarter-Than-You Senior Police Officials. Dupnik, in case anyone forgot (and I'm sure most people have, given the length of most attention spans and the average length of historical memory in this country), is the sheriff of Pima County, Arizona (which includes Tucson) and was famous for 15 minutes a month ago for blaming the shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and 18 others on a climate of right-wing vigilante zealotry. Never mind that this had nothing to do with what was going on inside (what passes for) the mind of Jared Lee Loughner; it made a good self-serving narrative for Dupnik and his ideological compadres. Similarly Mr. Aritonang: attacks on churches and other non-Muslim institutions in the Javan heartland, and on non-Muslim individuals, have nothing to do with Muslim hatred and bigotry toward all things non-Muslim.
In other news, James Clapper, the US DNI, assures us most assuredly the the MB is a secular, broad-based coalition...
Nice to have such intelligent, competent, perspicacious officials working for pluralism and democracy. Don't you feel safer now?