[Eskol-Net]- Hot Spot: 3 Ladies Appeal to Constitutional Court Fails

[Eskol-Net]

************************      Layanan Informasi Aktual           eskol@mitra.net.id ************************ Hot Spot: Rabu, 18 Januari 2006 Efforts to Release Three Ladies Rejected by Constitutional Court Keep up to date on Indonesia by looking up www.indonesiawatch.org IndonesiaWatch. Dr. Rebekka Loanita Z., Mrs Ety Pangesti and Mrs. Ratna Bangun continue to face an uphill battle to get justice in their case. Attempts to challenge the constitutonal validity of the laws used to convict the three ladies were rejected by the Constitutional Court yesterday. However, we invite you to look at the videos on the right side of this article and then ask the question, “Where is there justice in this case?” The following article in The Jakarta Post provides more information for your reading. Jailed teachers' hope for release dashed Tb. Arie Rukmantara, The Jakarta Post, 18 January 2006 Three Christian women jailed in the West Java town of Indramayu for inviting Muslim children to their Sunday school last year will stay in prison for three more years, after the Constitutional Court rejected a legal challenge to the ruling. The court rejected on Tuesday a plea filed by a clergyman to strike off an article in the Child Protection Law, which the Indramayu District Court used to put the women behind bars. The court ruled that the Rev. Ruyandi Hutasoit had no legal standing in the case and that the article he challenged was not in conflict with the Constitution. The article in the Child Protection Law rules that people found guilty of persuading children to convert to another religion are subject to five years in jail and/or a Rp 100 million fine. Hutasoit argued the article contradicted one in the Constitution guaranteeing people the freedom to practice the religion of their choice. The Indramayu District Court judges ruled last year that the three Christian women -- Rebecca Zakaria, Eti Pangestu and Ratna Bangun -- violated the article in the Child Protection Law by persuading Muslim minors to convert to Christianity without their parents' consent. The verdict drew criticism from Muslim and Christian communities in the area, who said the children had voluntarily gone to the school and had not changed their religion. A panel of nine Constitutional Court judges decided that Ruyandi had no right to contest the law because he had not experienced any "direct losses" in the case. "Because the plaintiff has no legal standing to appeal for a legal review, the court decides that his request ... is denied," Judge Jimly Asshiddique said. The court also ruled that Article 86 of the Child Protection Law did not contradict the Constitution, because the article clearly forbade the use of "tricks, lies or force" to convert children. Ruyandi's lawyer, Henri Rudiono Lie, said he would need time to decide if he would file another appeal. "Maybe we can find someone else who was victimized by this law as the judges suggested," Henri told The Jakarta Post. Henri said the article hampered the practice of Christianity in Muslim-dominated regions.   ************************************************************************************************* Satu tangan tak kuasa menjebol 'penjara ketidakadilan'. Dua tangan tak mampu merobohkannya. Tapi bila satu dan dua dan tiga dan seratus dan seribu tangan bersatu, kita akan berkata, "Kami mampu!" "Sebab segala sesuatu adalah dari Dia, dan oleh Dia, dan kepada Dia: Bagi Dialah kemuliaan sampai selama-lamanya!" (Roma 11:36) ************************************************************************************************* Redaksi Eskol-Net menerima informasi/tulisan/artikel yang relevan. Setiap informasi/tulisan/artikel yang masuk akan diseleksi dan di edit seperlunya. Untuk informasi lebih lanjut, pertanyaan, saran, kritik dan masukan harap menghubungi Redaksi Eskol-Net <eskol@mitra.net.id> *************************************************************************************************