Yuli Tri Suwarni, Bandung – The constitutional protection of freedom to worship guaranteed by the state is behind the court's verdict in favor of the churches, says a court official.
"All the judges agreed that the right to perform religious activities are guaranteed not only by the Indonesian Constitution but also by the UN Charter," vice chairman of the Bandung State Administrative Court (PTUN) Disiplin F. Manao said here on Friday.
He was referring to the court's Sept. 2 verdict, in which the judges ruled against Bekasi administration's refusal to permit the building of a church by a congregation of the Huria Kristen Batak Protestan (HKBP).
The judges asked the regent not to confuse building licenses with the right to worship as the refusal was deemed an outright ban of the religion in the area.
"Let's look at the establishment of houses of worship through people's spirit of tolerance. Don't mix it up, as it could obstruct the freedom of religion," Disiplin said.
The judges, he said, based their decisions on, among others, Articles 28 and 29 of the amended 1945 Constitution on the freedom of religion and practices of worship.
In reference to the building license case, the judges said the Bekasi mayor's decision had disturbed the joint ministerial decree between the Religious Affairs Ministry and the Home Ministry on guidance for head of regional administrations to maintain harmony among people of different faiths, empowerment of interfaith forums and the establishment of houses of worship.
"Since all the requirements to build a church had been met, there was no reason to cancel [the permit]," Disiplin said.
It was the third such case the court has dealt with, the other two being the cancellation of licenses to build churches in Depok municipality and Purwakarta regency. "The three all went in favor of the plaintiffs," said Disiplin.
The previous two cases were filed by the Ephorus HKBP congregation's Bonar Napitupulu from Tarutung, North Sumatra, on behalf of the management of HKBP church management in Cinere, Depok, and Purwakarta.
In Depok, the case surrounded the mayor's decision to cancel the issuance of a license to build a church and multi-purpose building while in Purwakarta, the management of Katolik Kristus Raja church in Kota Bukit Indah, Bungursari, Purwakarta, challenged the decree.
Disiplin said the case against Depok's mayor had been further strengthened by the central PTUN in Jakarta on July 2010 in which Mayor Nurmahmudi Ismail was ordered to do as charged and issue a building license for the church.
Disiplin assured that neutrality was there because all the judges assigned to try the cases happened to be Muslims.