We’ll see how long he remains behind bars, as he intends to appeal and has already gotten credit for time served. Other defendants got light sentences of a few months, also with credit for time served. One was scheduled for release this past Sunday. “Indonesian cleric jailed over church attacks,” from Agence France-Presse, June 14 (thanks to Twostellas):
SEMARANG – An Indonesian court on Tuesday sentenced a cleric to a year in jail for inciting hundreds of people to burn churches and attack police.
In February, a 1,500-strong mob of Muslims set two churches alight and ransacked a third in the town of Temanggung, on Java island, as they demanded that a Christian man be sentenced to death for insulting Islam.
Antonius Bawengan insulted Catholics, too. Oddly enough, there were no rampages by ruler-waving nuns calling for his head.
Syihabudin, 46, was convicted of whipping up the mob, which started the mayhem from inside a court, set a police vehicle ablaze and threw stones at officers.
‘We sentence the defendant for a year in prison because he was found guilty of provocation,’ Semarang district court judge Edy Tjahyono said.
The judge said the punishment would be reduced by several months to take account of time already served.
A few of his supporters chanted ‘Allahu akbar (God is greater)’ outside the court before the trial started. The cleric said in court he would appeal the sentence. —