Bekasi – Bekasi District Court handed down a suspended sentence to Abdul Azis, who was found guilty of assaulting members of the Toba Batak Protestant Church (HKBP) congregation last year.

Presiding judge Wasdi Permana said in a court session on Thursday that the defendant was guilty but he would be required to serve jail time only if he committed any crimes in the next six months. "The panel of judges sentences the defendant to two months' imprisonment suspended for six months," he said.

Abdul was charged with violating Article 335 of the Criminal Code on offensive behavior, prosecutors had sought a three-month jail sentence.

The attack occurred on April 15, 2012 when Abdul and others threw stones at members of the congregation after they completed their Sunday service and threatened church minister Palti Panjaitan with death if the congregation continued worshipping on the sidewalk in the Filadelfia housing compound.

Although the church had an official permit from the local authority the church building had been sealed up by local fundamentalists.

The Bekasi regency administration offered a vacant building at the Griya Prima housing compound and another one belonging to the local chapter of the Indonesian Teachers Association (PGRI) in Tambun, but the congregation rejected the offers.

Since the church closure, the congregation has joined members of the Indonesian Christian Church (GKI) Yasmin in Bogor to hold services almost every Sunday in front of the Presidential Palace in protest at the absence of religious freedom in the country.

The presiding judge said that all seven witnesses who testified in court said the defendant committed the crimes alleged against him.

He added that a video showing the defendant and his colleagues launching the attack and the intimidation was authentic and could be accepted as evidence. The video clip was taken by Lexi Santosa, a reporter with Pantau Online.

"The video shows the defendant saying, 'If your congregation holds another service in this village, I will finish you off, Palti,' while moving his index finger horizontally across his throat mimicking the slaughter of an animal," he said.

The church reported the incident to the Bekasi police office on May 19 and they later charged Abdul. On Dec. 25, 2012, Abdul reported Palti to the police for assault and the minister was arrested. In his report to the police, Abdul claimed he was beaten by Palti during an altercation while the congregation held its Christmas service on the sidewalk.

Neither Abdul or Palti have been detained and Palti's case has yet to be brought to court.

According to the panel of judges, the light sentence was given because the defendant was a local religious leader and he vowed not to reoffend. Several people in the courtroom, including members of a hard-liner group, yelled "Allahu Akbar [God is Great]" after the presiding judge read the verdict.

Judianto Simanjuntak, a lawyer for the congregation, said he was disappointed by the trial as the panel of judges had not tried Abdul for all his alleged crimes.

"It was not a fair trial because it only heard the offensive behavior allegation while the congregation reported three violations to the police," he said, alleging that the defendant had committed two other serious crimes, namely using force to prevent others performing their prayers and intimidation, which contravened the 1945 Constitution. (ogi)