Indonesia rejects outrage over lynch mob sentences

Indonesia on Friday dismissed expressions of outrage and disbelief over the perceived light sentences handed down to Islamic extremists who killed three minority sect members in a mob frenzy. The United States and the European Union expressed strong misgivings while local rights groups and international watchdogs issued condemnations and calls for action to address rising intolerance in the mainly Muslim country. But religious affairs ministry spokesman Zubaidi said the sentences of three to six months for the men accused of leading the murderous assault on the Ahmadiyah sect members in February were the result of a fair trial. "As an executive body, we cannot interfere in the legal system. We believe in the law enforcers. They have the right to come up with the sentences," he told AFP. "Whether the sentences are light or harsh, how it's perceived is relative." Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, often held up by the United States and others as a champion of pluralism and democracy, made no comment on the sentences. Foreign ministry officials were unavailable to comment. Human rights activists said prosecutors and the court in Serang had been influenced by Islamic leaders to play down the gravity of the crime. They say violence against minorities is going unchecked in the world's most populous Muslim-majority country, and criticise Yudhoyono for failing to defend the nation's pluralist, moderate traditions. But Zubaidi said the court was independent and its decisions could not be questioned. "I don't see that there has been any pressures from anyone. On the matter of intervention, I believe there was none," he said. The violence against the Ahmadiyah sect members in Cikeusik, western Java, was one of the most horrific in a long line of attacks on the minority group in Indonesia in recent years. Ahmadiyah, unlike mainstream Muslims, do not believe Mohammed was the last prophet and are regarded as heretics and blasphemers by conservatives in countries such as Indonesia and Pakistan. A secretly filmed video of the Cikeusik rampage sparked international concern when it appeared online within days of the attack. The sentences were less than prosecutors had sought and well below the maximum penalty of 12 years. The state advised the court that the Ahmadiyah provoked the attack by refusing to flee the mob. Dani bin Misra, a 17-year-old who repeatedly smashed a victim's skull with a stone, was sentenced to three months in jail for assault causing death, public incitement and destruction of property. Idris bin Mahdani, who led the 1,500-strong mob, was convicted of illegal possession of a machete and received five months and 15 days in jail. Most of Indonesia's roughly 200 million Muslims are moderate but the country has a dark recent history of religious violence and homegrown Islamist extremism. "The Cikeusik trial should have been a way to show vulnerable groups in Indonesia that when they are targets of violence, the state will protect them," said Elaine Pearson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch. "Instead, these sentences will embolden militants who will see that using deadly violence brings few consequences."