Cleric sentenced to two years for sparking hatred
ID Nugroho, The Jakarta Post, Surabaya
The Malang District Court handed down a two-year prison sentence for a Muslim cleric who was charged with despoiling Islam, by leading prayers both in Bahasa Indonesia and Arabic.
The cleric, Yusman Roy, escaped the main charge, namely that his teachings deviated from Islamic tenets, but was found guilty of the secondary charge, circulating video compact discs (VCD) that sparked public hatred. Besides sparking public hatred, the VCDs have also insulted Muslim clerics who have been teaching people for years to pray in Arabic only, according to the judges.
"The defendant was acquitted of the main charge because experts on Islam differ on whether his teaching has deviated from or tarnished Islamic tenets," said presiding judge Soedarmadji.
The sentence was one year less than the term sought by the prosecutors in an earlier court hearing.
Police officers arrested Roy on May 7 this year after local residents reported him to the police for conducting prayers in Arabic and Bahasa Indonesia at his Islamic boarding school in Malang, East Java. Roy, who has some 300 followers, led the prayers and provided Indonesian translations for the Arabic verses used in the prayers. Ritual prayers are carried out five times a day as prescribed in the Koran.
Roy, a former boxer and convert from Christianity, was also found to have distributed pamphlets and VCDs that encouraged people to pray in Arabic and Bahasa Indonesia, which fueled people's anger. The Indonesian Ulema Council's (MUI) Malang branch swiftly issued an edict that banned the recital of prayers held in any language other than Arabic.
Tuesday's trial attracted attention from locals especially students from Malang Islamic boarding schools. The students packed the courtroom and shouted Allahu Akbar! (Allah the Great) when they heard that the judge had decided to hand down a two- year jail term.
After the court session, Roy reiterated that he was innocent. He said that, in providing Indonesian translations of Arabic verses during prayers, he was helping people understand the meaning behind the Arabic verses.