“Indonesian police said on Wednesday they would not bring murder charges against suspects accused of killing a transgender woman by dousing her with petrol and setting her on fire.” This despite the fact that six people were suspected of “unintentionally” burning her to death. The rage and violence against this person was likely rooted in Islamic zeal.
Usman Hamid, the Indonesian representative of Amnesty International, told Reuters it seemed too early for the police to conclude that there was no intent to set the woman on fire.
This is the atmosphere in Indonesia, according to the New York Times:
“In Indonesia, Salafi ideology has penetrated urban and rural, civil servants and villagers,” said Din Wahid, a theologian at Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University. “They see corruption all around them and say that it is only Shariah and restoring a caliphate that will be able to fix society.”
And Saudi Arabia, where Extremism Is Riyadh’s Top Export, has influenced the rise of Salafi ideology in Indonesia, to the extent that the country is abandoning its former “moderate” reputation. Hijra movements and “born again” Muslim movements are driving social change and the “highly conservative head of the Indonesian Ulama Council,” Ma’ruf Ami, is also said to wield “unprecedented influence” in the country.
“Indonesia police will not bring murder charges in case of transgender woman burned to death,” Reuters, April 8, 2020:
JAKARTA (Reuters) – Indonesian police said on Wednesday they would not bring murder charges against suspects accused of killing a transgender woman by dousing her with petrol and setting her on fire.
The 43-year-old died on Sunday from burns sustained in the incident a day earlier. Her death was reported by Indonesian media on Tuesday.
Police said on Wednesday they believed the suspects who set the fire had not burned her intentionally. They identified six suspects, three of whom had been arrested.
Budhi Herdi Susianto, the North Jakarta police chief, said the suspects had accused the woman of stealing and doused her with petrol. One of the suspects had lit a match, but did not intend to burn her, the police chief said.
The suspects could be charged with physical violence, carrying a maximum sentence of 12 years.
Usman Hamid, the Indonesian representative of Amnesty International, told Reuters it seemed too early for the police to conclude that there was no intent to set the woman on fire.
“The police need take investigative actions that are impartial and independent. They can’t seem like the perpetrators’ lawyers,” he said.
Andreas Harsono, a researcher with Human Rights Watch, said the incident was indicative of a rise in hostility and vilification of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community.
“Her death should be a reminder to many Indonesians that transgender women deserve justice and equal rights,” he said.
“Thousands of transgender women, gay men or lesbian women have been humiliated in Indonesia these past few years.”
Homosexuality is not regulated by law in Indonesia, except in Aceh province where same-sex relations are banned under sharia law. But growing social and religious conservatism has driven escalating vitriol toward sexual minorities in the world’s most populous Muslim-majority country….