Young Christians rejected for reporting cleric’s hate speech against Christians
The Indonesian Church Youth Association (PPGI) recently reported a well-known Muslim cleric regarding the spread of hate speech to the Criminal Investigation Unit of the Police. However, their report was rejected.
“We are here to submit a police report. Disappointedly, we were rejected. Ustaz Abdul Somad (UAS)’ [controversial] statement is still circulating on social media,” said PPGI Chairperson Maruli Tua Silaban to reporters today.
The police claimed that PPGI has not submitted sufficient evidence. “We have to present two pieces of evidence. In our opinion, UAS’s actions have already fulfilled the requirements since clearly the intention of his actions has violated the teachings of other people’s religion,” Maruli added.
UAS is known for claiming that there was an infidel jinn (evil spirit) in the statue of the cross in his sermon which became widely circulated online. “In the video, he said that there was a genie on the cross. The genie was an infidel genie. It was as if he was making fun of Christianity,” Maruli said.
While there has already been another report filed against UAS, including in the Polda Metro Jaya area, this was PPGI’s first attempt. Maruli’s group will continue to try until their case is accepted.
Source: persecution.org
