Cleric sentenced to two years for sparking hatred<\/p>\n
ID Nugroho, The Jakarta Post, Surabaya<\/p>\n
The Malang District Court handed down a two-year prison
\nsentence for a Muslim cleric who was charged with despoiling
\nIslam, by leading prayers both in Bahasa Indonesia and Arabic.<\/p>\n
The cleric, Yusman Roy, escaped the main charge, namely that
\nhis teachings deviated from Islamic tenets, but was found guilty
\nof the secondary charge, circulating video compact discs (VCD)
\nthat sparked public hatred. Besides sparking public hatred, the
\nVCDs have also insulted Muslim clerics who have been teaching
\npeople for years to pray in Arabic only, according to the judges.<\/p>\n
\"The defendant was acquitted of the main charge because
\nexperts on Islam differ on whether his teaching has deviated from
\nor tarnished Islamic tenets,\" said presiding judge Soedarmadji.<\/p>\n
The sentence was one year less than the term sought by the
\nprosecutors in an earlier court hearing.<\/p>\n
Police officers arrested Roy on May 7 this year after local
\nresidents reported him to the police for conducting prayers in
\nArabic and Bahasa Indonesia at his Islamic boarding school in
\nMalang, East Java. Roy, who has some 300 followers, led the
\nprayers and provided Indonesian translations for the Arabic
\nverses used in the prayers. Ritual prayers are carried out five
\ntimes a day as prescribed in the Koran.<\/p>\n
Roy, a former boxer and convert from Christianity, was also
\nfound to have distributed pamphlets and VCDs that encouraged
\npeople to pray in Arabic and Bahasa Indonesia, which fueled
\npeople's anger. The Indonesian Ulema Council's (MUI) Malang
\nbranch swiftly issued an edict that banned the recital of prayers
\nheld in any language other than Arabic.<\/p>\n
Tuesday's trial attracted attention from locals especially
\nstudents from Malang Islamic boarding schools. The students
\npacked the courtroom and shouted Allahu Akbar! (Allah the Great)
\nwhen they heard that the judge had decided to hand down a two-
\nyear jail term.<\/p>\n
After the court session, Roy reiterated that he was innocent.
\nHe said that, in providing Indonesian translations of Arabic
\nverses during prayers, he was helping people understand the
\nmeaning behind the Arabic verses.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/cleric-sentenced-to-two-years-for-sparking-hatred-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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