If the shoe were on the other foot and Ahmadis got off easy for committing some crime against Muslims, it would be an outrage. Something would have to be done about it. But the light sentences the murderers got and the lukewarm reaction by officials are all the more proof that non-Muslim lives are already worth less than those of Muslims in Indonesia.
At some point, the letter of the law will simply catch up to practices that already exist, and the laws passed to suppress Ahmadis’ beliefs and very presence in public life in the aftermath of the attacks are but a step in that direction. More on this story. “Indonesia rejects outrage over lynch mob sentences,” from Agence France-Presse, July 29 (thanks to Twostellas):
JAKARTA – INDONESIA on Friday dismissed expressions of outrage and disbelief over the perceived light sentences handed down to Islamic extremists who killed three minority sect members in a mob frenzy.
The United States and the European Union expressed strong misgivings while local rights groups and international watchdogs issued condemnations and calls for action to address rising intolerance in the mainly Muslim country.
But religious affairs ministry spokesman Zubaidi said the sentences of three to six months for the men accused of leading the murderous assault on the Ahmadiyah sect members in February were the result of a fair trial.
‘As an executive body, we cannot interfere in the legal system. We believe in the law enforcers. They have the right to come up with the sentences,’ he told AFP.
‘Whether the sentences are light or harsh, how it’s perceived is relative.’ Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, often held up by the United States and others as a champion of pluralism and democracy, made no comment on the sentences. Foreign ministry officials were unavailable to comment.
Human rights activists said prosecutors and the court in Serang had been influenced by Islamic leaders to play down the gravity of the crime. They say violence against minorities is going unchecked in the world’s most populous Muslim-majority country, and criticise Mr Yudhoyono for failing to defend the nation’s pluralist, moderate traditions.
It’s not the first time Muslim attackers have gotten laughably brief sentences in recent months. It is also not the first time Yudhoyono has downplayed the extent of the problem of rising Islamic intolerance in Indonesia. When he commented on attacks against Christians last year, one would have thought he were discussing a homeowners’ association dispute.