Susilo: Freedom of worship guaranteed

Susilo: Freedom of worship guaranteed

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono stressed on Sunday that the
state guaranteed every citizen religious freedom and called on
the police and members of the public to act to prevent violence
against any faith.

The President, according to his spokesman Andi Mallarangeng,
has ordered Minister of Religious Affairs M. Maftuh Basyuni and
heads of local administrations to quickly find a solution to the
closure of Christian houses of worship.

"The President called on them to find the right solution, with
the principle that the state and the Constitution guarantee the
freedom to worship," Andi said in a statement.

The President made the comments after Muslim hard-line groups
to forcefully close at least 23 churches in a number of cities in
West Java and Banten on the grounds that they were operating
illegally.

Thousands of Christians and a number of leading Muslim
figures, including former president Abdurrahman Wahid, rallied on
Saturday to protest the closures.

Some Christians have also called on the government to revoke a
1969 ministerial decree issued jointly by the ministries of
religious and home affairs that requires local public leaders to
approve the construction of non-Muslim houses of worship.

The President, nevertheless, said that the government would
not hastily revoke the joint ministerial decree. But he agreed
that the decree needed some changes.

To prevent conflict, Susilo said, real estate developers would
be required to build houses of worship for people living in
housing complexes.

The President also expressed alarm over violence committed by
hard-line groups against followers of other sects or other
faiths.

"SBY also calls on any organization or community not to take
the law into their hands on this issue of worship," Andi said.

"The National Police chief (Gen. Sutanto) is instructed to
uphold the law against any perpetrators of violence, including
the instigators."

Some Muslim hard-line groups recently attacked the premises of
the Ahmadiyah Islamic sect after the Indonesian Ulema Council
issued a fatwa against the group, calling it illegitimate. No one
has been prosecuted for the violence committed against the sect.