Novia D. Rulistia, Jakarta – The Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) recommended on Tuesday that the government set up an investigation team to resolve the issues surrounding the embattled GKI Taman Yasmin congregation, whose church was sealed by the Bogor administration.

"We will send the recommendation letter to the home minister, religious affairs minister, Attorney General and the National Police chief so they conduct a thorough investigation," MUI chairman Ma'ruf Amin said after a meeting with Bogor Mayor Diani Budiarto. The recommendation was made without the presence of a GKI Yasmin representative.

Ma'ruf said that, since the MUI was concerned with inter-religious tolerance, he had asked Diani to come to the MUI office to hear his perspective on the case, but Ma'ruf declined to say that the GKI Yasmin closure was a case of state discrimination against a religious minority or intolerance. "We think that it's all about building permits," he said.

Diani insisted on sealing the GKI Yasmin church in defiance of a Supreme Court ruling and the Indonesian Ombudsman's recommendation to reopen the church. Diani said that the petition of local consent used by the congregation to gain approval to build the church contained forged signatures.

The Ombudsman issued a statement saying that Diani's evidence was not relevant because GKI Yasmin produced the signed petition in 2002, whereas the allegedly false petition that related to the legal case against Munir Karta was dated 2006.

The Indonesia Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) and Golkar Party have distanced themselves from Diani for his intransigence over the GKI Yasmin issue and have started a motion that could result in his removal.

However, the local Islamist Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) branch openly supported Diani Budiarto's decision to close the church, saying that the church closure was a legal dispute that had nothing to do with religious discrimination.

Separately on Tuesday, a GKI Yasmin delegation visited the headquarters of the largest Muslim organization, the Nahdlatul Ulama Executive Board (PBNU), in East Jakarta. "We came here because we wanted to find sanctuary because we feel threatened," said GKI Yasmin spokesperson Bona Sigalingging.

He said that although the Bogor mayor had ordered the church to be reopened, the congregation was still conducting their Sunday services on the street surrounded by hundreds of police officers and groups that demanded that the congregation move from the area.

PBNU chairman Said Aqil Siradj said that the NU would do its best to uphold religious tolerance. "After hearing the explanation from GKI Yasmin, our standpoint is clear that everyone should abide by the law, which includes the Supreme Court decision," he said.

Said added that he would pass on all the points that GKI Yasmin had addressed during a planned meeting with the National Police chief, as the case certainly involved actions that violated the law.

Said also asked that GKI Yasmin talk with the PBNU branch in Bogor to help deal with the mass organizations that opposed the church.