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Supreme court says Indonesian atheist lawfully jailed
Jakarta Globe - August 13, 2014
The court said it upheld the sentence for former civil servant Alexander Aan, who was found guilty of disseminated a cartoon portraying the Prophet Muhammad and saying on Facebook that "God does not exist."
"The defendant is proven to have spread information which blasphemes the Prophet Muhammad in eleven cartoons," the court said in its ruling.
Alexander, who worked as a civil servant at a local government office in West Sumatra, was beaten by a mob before taken to jail after he posted the status and cartoons.
The Indonesian state requires every citizen to believe in God. The Muaro district court in June 2012 sentenced him to two-and-a-half years in jail and a Rp 100 million ($8,500) fine for inciting religious hatred. The sentence was upheld by the West Sumatera High Court in August 2012.
The case sparked international outrage and Alexander was labeled a prisoner of conscience by Amnesty International. He was released from jail in January this year.
Source: http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/news/supreme-court-says-indonesian-atheist-lawfully-jailed/.
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