Confucianist couple lose case<\/p>\n
SURABAYA: Budi Wijaya and Lanny Guito, a couple of Chinese
\ndescent who were married in a Confucianist ceremony, lost their
\ncase yesterday against a regional civil registry office which had
\nrefused to recognize their marriage.<\/p>\n
The Surabaya State Administrative Court ruled that the civil
\nregistry office was abiding by government regulations when it did
\nnot recognize the marriage because Confucianism is not one of the
\ncountry's five officially-recognized religions.<\/p>\n
Budi and Lanny have been denied a marriage certificate,
\nwithout it they cannot get a birth certificate for their, as yet
\nunnamed, baby daughter.<\/p>\n
The panel of judges decided that neither they nor the registry
\noffice had the right or authority to decide whether Confucianism
\nwas a religion or merely a philosophy. \"It is not up to us to
\ndecide,\" said presiding judge Mudjiono.<\/p>\n
Budi said he was not surprised by his defeat. \"Everybody knows
\nI could have won..but there are invisible factors that helped
\ndefeat me,\" he said, without elaborating. \"I have let my fellow
\nConfucianist followers down with this defeat.\"<\/p>\n
The couple and their lawyer Trimoelja D. Soerjadi said they
\nmay appeal.<\/p>\n
Moslem scholar Abdurrahman Wahid, who said earlier that the
\ngovernment had no right to limit the number of religions that its
\nsubjects may embrace, attended the court hearing yesterday.<\/p>\n
\"The court ruling was based only on legal and formal aspects
\nof the law, not on justice,\" he charged. (27)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/confucianist-couple-lose-case-1447893297",
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