Indonesia's Constitutional Court Upholds Blasphemy Law

Yesterday in an 8-1 decision, Indonesia's Constitutional Court upheld the country's blasphemy law. (Background.) The New York Times and Human Rights Watch both report on the decision. Section 156a of the Indonesian Criminal Code, which supplements a 1965 presidential decree, recognizes six religions, and imposes penalties of up to five years in prison for anyone who deliberately in public expresses hostility, hatred or contempt against one of these religions. The 1965 Presidential Decree prohibits deviant interpretations of any of these religions, and allows the Attorney General's office to dissolve deviant sects. The six recognized religions are Islam, Protestantism, Catholicism, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Confucianism. The law was challenged as violating Indonesia's Constitution which guaranties freedom of expression and religion, and human rights treaties. The suit was filed by a group of Indonesian NGOs and individuals, led by former president Abdurrahman Wahid. The Constitutional Court justified the law as a way of protecting against violence by intolerant members of the public.