30 year old atheist Alex Aan has been sentenced to two and a half years in prison and fined today, Thursday, for posting ‘there is no god’ on Facebook and being critical of Islam. He was found guilty of “deliberately spreading information inciting religious hatred and animosity” under the Electronic Information and Transactions law.
Aan had been indicted with two other charges — persuading others to embrace atheism and blasphemy — and prosecutors had sought a three-and-a-half-year jail term for him but the court dropped these two.
According to the judge, “What he did has caused anxiety to the community and tarnished Islam.”
FYI, Islam’s not a person; Alex Aan is.
What the Indonesian court and government have done is to tarnish humanity itself.
This is not the end of the story – just the beginning.
Alex has to be freed. He has done nothing wrong except express his views.
Write to the Indonesian authorities today and tell them to review the case and free him now. You can find contact details here.
(News via Rafiq Mahmood)
im a muslim.. a newly devout muslim woman and havent felt happier ..i believe that islam respects every ones opinion and so im against punishing anyone for their opinion ..what some muslims do doesnt represent islam .just as what some christians or anyone does wrong doesnt mean that chistianty or this way of thinking is wrong….
Hm… what does Islam say about unbelievers? What kind of feeling do rulings like this raise in the unbelieving communities?
Love? Peace? I don’t think so.
So could, using this law, the whole system of Islam (and whatever other religion you’d like to add) be accuse of “inciting religious hatred and animosity”?
By the way, this is what Alex was accused of posting, sharing or linking to.
Muhammad and Hafsa
Enjoy and share around the globe.
We will not be silenced!
Also, CFI-DC (in Washington DC) is protesting in front of the Indonesian embassy next week, on a day to be announced.
http://www.centerforinquiry.net/news/center_for_inquiry_condemns_jailing_of_indonesian_atheist_for_inciting_reli/
Very much wrong has been done with every ‘gr8 person’like him!
“Alex has to be freed. He has done nothing wrong except express his views.”
I agree, but the second sentence should read:
Alex has to be freed. He has done nothing wrong.”
Those were indeed his words to me: “I have done nothing wrong.”
This is disgusting. As if Islam wasn’t doing a good enough job of tarnishing itself. It’s like blaming a flood on someone for spitting in a river.
Hmmm…. Galileo, Galileo, Galileo… What they’ve done is brought attention to their archaic, inhumane, and ridiculous laws, which will, of course, crumble. Alex Aan is an international hero. Truth, justice, and humanity prevail in the end. It’s only a matter of time.
Well said, Maryam.