Yusman Roy in the LA Times

March 20th, 2006, in News, by Patung

Great article in the Los Angeles Times of March 20th entitled “Separation of Mosque and State Wanes in Indonesia” dealing with the persecution, under blasphemy laws, of Yusman Roy, who sits in prison for the crime of having led prayers at his local mosque in the language of his country and people - Indonesian.

The writer, Richard C. Paddock, visited Yusman Roy in prison and interviewed him.

The government and the [Indonesian Ulema] council have been working together to suppress my ideas. But this will not stop me from doing what I believe.

Despite Condoleezza Rice’s optimism the news is getting out that so-called secular Indonesia persecutes people based on their religious beliefs.

Yusman Roy.

The article deals with a number of recent cases of blasphemy, apart from Yusman Roy’s, including the Lia Eden case, and a couple of others, although not the recent Batam example, that I admit I have never even heard of but which are real humdingers, like:

Sumardi Tappaya, 60, a high school religious teacher on the island of Sulawesi, was locked up in January after a relative told police he had heard Sumardi whistling while he prayed. The whistling was declared deviant by the local ulemas, and Sumardi is now in jail awaiting trial on charges of religious blasphemy. He faces five years in prison.

Extremely good article, read it all.

Tags: Religion

3 Comments on “Yusman Roy in the LA Times”

R. Patterson Says:
March 21st, 2006 at 12:29 am
Sad that the Arabs treat Indonesians like they do - very sad treating a whole populace thus. This is of course about using only Arabic in prayers. Either you Indonesians are seen as a lesser people than Arabs or your god cannot understand your Indonesian languages. Regards, R. Patterson
KH. Moch. Yusman Roy Says:
June 21st, 2007 at 7:44 pm
Dear Readers, I am Yusman Roy himself, who’s been spending almost 2 years in jail, because I was defending what I believe till right know. Whether you agree or disagree with me, and would like to contact me, please write to : KH. Moch. Yusman Roy, No. 136, Sumber Waras Timur, Lawang, Malang, East Jawa, Indonesia. I’ll be glad to answer all of your questions. Thanks, and God bless you all.
Carla Says:
September 27th, 2007 at 12:11 pm
Mr. Yusman Roy, I’m Carla, from ADN Kronos International, Italy-based news office (I replaced Parama Dewi). I’ve tried to contact you a lot of times today but I could not get connected to you at all. Not to your home phone numbers, nor your Flexi.

Could you please let us know how we can contact you? We would like to hear the update of your case with MUI.

Thank you very much in advance.

Regards, Carla.

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