Posted on 05/24/2003 11:41:38 AM PDT by miltonim
INDONESIA: PERSECUTION IN WEST JAVA & UPDATE ON REV. DAMANIK 'S TRIAL
AUSTRALIA -- In Bekasi, about 20 km southeast of Jakarta in West Java, churches are being threatened and intimidated by local radical Muslim groups, and local authorities are taking no action to protect the Christian minority or reign in the Islamist militants. The Islamist campaign in Bekasi has intensified in recent months and is related to unconstitutional local legislation. The original legislation dates back to 1969 and simply requires Christians to apply for a license before building a church. However, recent legislation is highly restrictive and requires Christian groups to have at least 40 “heads of families” before applying for a church building permit.
District Government Regulation No. 4/1998 calls for “serenity and orderliness” in Bekasi. This regulation has been used to close houses and a shopping center at Lippo Cikarang that were used as church meeting places. Islamist groups in Bekasi desire to put an end to Christian worship. Christian outreach has virtually ceased due to Islamist pressure. The various Islamist groups visit and threaten Christians in their churches. As a result, hundreds of Christians are staying at home instead of attending services. The government needs to uphold law, order and justice, as well as the believers’ constitutional right to freedom of worship.
UPDATE: THE TRIAL OF REV. RENALDY DAMANIK
The Rev. Renaldy Damanik is leader of the Protestant Christian community in Central Sulawesi, Indonesia, a community that has suffered greatly at the hands of the Laskar Jihad and rouge Islamist elements in the military. He is a known and respected peacemaker and advocate of disarmament. He is on trial in Palu on a false weapons charge. The plot to scapegoat Rev. Damanik has been supported at very high levels.
The prosecution called its final witnesses on 28 April. The prosecution witnesses were a disaster for the prosecution, contradicting each other, forgetting the “script”, and testifying of police intimidation.
The defense began on 5 May and the defense team were allotted three court sessions to call eight witnesses. On 12 May, Prof. J. E. Sahetapy, an expert witness, and legislator with the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle, told the Palu District Court that the police engineered the arrest of the defendant Renaldy Damanik. Sahetapy called for Rev. Damanik to be acquitted of all charges, claiming the arrest and subsequent interrogation of Rev. Damanik violated the Criminal Code.
Damanik's detention has been extended till 23 May. After that, Damanik must be released pending the outcome of his trial. The Judges intend to conclude the case and deliver a verdict by 9 June 2003.
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PLEASE PRAY SPECIFICALLY FOR: the Indonesian government and Bekasi local district government to promote law, order and justice, and support the Constitutional right of the Bekasi Christians to worship freely -- and may unreasonable restrictions be lifted.
justice in the trial of Rev. Renaldy Damanik. Pray that Damanik will be released on 23 May, that he will be acquitted of all charges, and that those who have engineered this injustice will be disciplined.
God to be present and at work in all the deliberations of the judges, that the Holy Spirit would bring conviction of sin, righteousness and judgement, so that these judges will be committed to doing what is right and just, regardless of popular opinion and Islamist pressure. ”Let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream!” Amos 5:24
WE PRAISE AND THANK GOD FOR:
his gracious and supernatural sustaining of Rev. Renaldy Damanik thus far – his deliverance from sickness, threatened riots, an attempted poisoning, and the most dangerous of all – despair. Pray for God’s continued sustaining grace and protection. See Psalm 138.
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