http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/home/confusion-surrounds-blasphemy-allegation/396759
Confusion Surrounds Blasphemy Allegation Cameron Bates & Fitri | September 17, 2010 Jakarta. A friend of US citizen Greg Luke, who was arrested in Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara, on charges of blaspheming Islam, said the entire incident stemmed from a "misunderstanding" caused by a language barrier. Lalu Sungkul, who has been providing assistance since the American's home in Kuta was destroyed by a mob on the night of Aug. 22, said prosecutors on Thursday returned the case file to police because they wanted to know more about Luke's ability to speak Indonesian. Lalu, who was born and raised in Kuta, said he had translated the case file for Luke and had disputed some of comments police allege the American made to villagers outside a mosque. He said the incident started when Luke approached the mosque and tried to ask a group of about six men on the porch to turn down the speaker volume. The American, who did not step foot in the mosque, was then pushed off the porch, landing on his back in the dirt, Lalu said. He said that police allege it was at this point that Luke insulted Islam by saying, in fluent Indonesian, "I will hire some hoodlums to tear down this mosque." But Lalu said Luke's grasp of Indonesian was too poor for that. Luke told the Jakarta Globe from his jail cell that he had only told the villagers that their mosque "needs to teach manners" as he attempted to escape on his motorcycle as he was pelted with stones. Central Lombok Police, however, said the case file mentioned no threats to "tear down" the mosque, but centered on Luke's alleged comment that "Muslims don't have any manners." [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------------------ Post message: [email protected] Subscribe : [email protected] Unsubscribe : [email protected] List owner : [email protected] Homepage : http://proletar.8m.com/Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/proletar/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/proletar/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: [email protected] [email protected] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [email protected] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
