Cleric sentenced to two years for sparking hatred
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.