In July 2016, rioters in the city of Tanjung Balai, North Sumatra, attacked and burned several Buddhist temples. The riot was allegedly triggered by a complaint by a Chinese-Indonesian woman who said that the mosque speaker in front of her house was too loud.
That woman, 44-year-old Meiliana, is currently facing trial in the Medan district court after being charged with insulting Islam under Indonesia’s controversial blasphemy laws. Yesterday, the prosecutors in the case demanded that she be sentenced to 1.5 years in prison for her statements.
“We say the defendant, Meiliana, has been proven legally and convincingly guilty of issuing statements in public or committing acts that are essentially hostile towards or blasphemous against a recognized religion in Indonesia,” prosecutor Anggia Y Kesuma said as quoted by Merdeka.
Meiliana reportedly broke down in tears upon hearing the prosecutor’s demand.
According to the prosecutor’s version of events, the case began about a week before the riots when Meiliana went to some of her Muslim neighbors and asked them to ask the caretakers of the mosque in front of her house to reduce the volume of their speakers because it was noisy and painful.
Her request was relayed to the mosque’s management, who visited her on the day before the riots. Meiliana repeated her request that they reduce the mosque’s speakers volume which allegedly led to an argument. Meiliana’s husband went to the mosque to apologize but word had already gotten out about what she said, which spread on social media, leading to calls for violence and the subsequent riots.
Meiliana was reported to the police for blasphemy and the North Sumatra branch of the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) issued a fatwa declaring that she had indeed insulted Islam. After that, she was named a suspect by the police leading to her current trial.
The trial was adjourned after the prosecutor’s demand until Thursday, when the defense will read their statement.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHJ4yzB3dD8&feature=youtu.be
Shortly after the riots, President Joko Widodo demanded that firm action be taken against the rioters and police made numerous arrests. However, out of the eight people who were eventually convicted for their part in the violence and property damage, all but one received sentences of less than two months in jail (one received a sentence of 2 months and 18 days) at the conclusion of their trials in January 2017.
