Indra Harsaputra, Sampang – Sampang Shiite cleric Tajul Muluk, who faced the first hearing of his trial on Tuesday at the Sampang District Court, has been accused of propagating religious blasphemy and insulting mainstream Islam, and faces more than five years' imprisonment if found guilty.
Prosecutor Sucipto, in his indictment, stated that among the blatant forms of religious blasphemies that Tajul had propagated was telling his disciples that the current Koran was not the original version.
"The original one is still in the hands of the imam Mahdi," Sucipto said. Besides questioning the originality of the Koran, the sacred text of Islam, Sucipto added without further elaboration that Tajul had also ordered his disciples to lie.
Presiding Judge Purnomo Amin Cahyo adjourned the trial to the same time next week to allow for Tajul to prepare his defense statement. Tajul, who was without a lawyer, was then brought back to the detention center under heavy guard.
The Sampang Police deployed approximately 150 personnel to guard the trial to protect against any threats.
Commenting on the trial, Poengki Indarti, executive director of Imparsial, a human rights NGO, urged the prosecutors to drop the indictment and acquit Tajul of all charges.
"What the government has done through this court process has clearly shown their ignorance of the Constitution. The government has violated the Constitution by denying Tajul his right to religious freedom," she told The Jakarta Post.
Tajul was arrested because the police feared his teachings would incite communal violence by mainstream Muslims. However, some rights activists have alleged that such conflict was being fomented by "religious elites" to further their own ends.
Chairman of the East Java Interfaith Forum, Ghazali Said, for example, previously warned that anti-Shiite violence might be used by religious elites for their own purposes. "The Shiites have been living here in Madura for decades in peace. This conflict has occurred because some religious elites hope to gain benefits from this," he said.
Poengki said that she was surprised at how violent Indonesia could become when addressing these kinds of issues. "The state has failed to nurture the nation's diversity or promote it as our most valuable asset," she said.
Religious intolerance has increased considerably in the past decade thanks in part to a lack of action by administrations, at the central and regional level. Apart from the Shiites, the Ahmadis have also seen their mosques and followers targeted by religious hard-liners.
Minority Christians have also experienced difficulties performing services in many churches around the country.
Religious Affairs Minister Suryadharma Ali, who should play a mediating role in these cases, has instead blamed minorities for being different, while the country's leader, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, has so far limited himself to expressing concern.
[Dicky Christanto contributed to the story from Jakarta.]