Nurdin Hasan, Aceh – Authorities in West Aceh have told three Americans accused of converting local Muslims to leave the district for their own safety, while three of their alleged converts have been placed in an Islamic boarding school for "education," an official said on Wednesday.
Mulya Agus, a spokesman for the West Aceh administration, told the Jakarta Globe that the three Americans were Kelly Green Jordan, Robin Kay Jordan and their daughter, MacKenrie Claire Jordan. They were told to leave the district on Tuesday.
"We are not evicting them, but to prevent further conflict, because local people might get mad at their activities, we are telling them to leave," he said. "So we are actually saving them from possible public anger."
Aceh is the only province allowed by law to implement partial Shariah law, and West Aceh has been particularly aggressive in enforcing Islamic mores, including banning tight clothes and jeans for women.
Kelly Green Jordan and her husband were reportedly working with a social foundation in Meulaboh, the district capital. Mulya did not provide any information on the foundation itself.
Mulya said locals began questioning the Jordans's activities after three people in Samatiga subdistrict, about 15 kilometers from Meulaboh, converted to Christianity. The three new converts have lived in West Aceh since after the 2004 tsunami.
"After receiving a report about the alleged missionary activities, the West Aceh Ulema Council [MPU] conducted an investigation and confirmed that three people in the district had converted to another religion," Mulya said.
"We even have a tape showing the three of them being baptized. When they were questioned by the MPU they claimed that they were baptized under the influence of hypnosis," he said
The converts, whose identities were not given, have since been placed in an Islamic boarding school for education, he added.
Teuku Ahmad Dadek, head of the West Aceh Public Order Office, said that during the investigation by the MPU, some residents had pelted the house rented by the Jordans with stones, forcing them to move to a hotel.
"The three of them were then taken to the Meulaboh Immigration Office," he said. "We only wanted to protect them from public anger." The family has reportedly since left Aceh on a chartered plane.
Dadek said his office was still collecting evidence about the Jordans's activities in West Aceh, including a videotape confiscated from the family.
"They are in Medan, North Sumatra now, but they won't be allowed to live in West Aceh, or any city in this province, again because they have caused so much worry among residents," he said.