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Arrested Indonesian Atheist Faces New Possible Charges
Ulma Haryanto | January 31, 2012

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Batuplano
6:01am Feb 9, 2012

Indeed God does not exist, Excepts ALLAH!

Batuplano
6:00am Feb 9, 2012

Aan is not punished because he is an atheist , because he insulted and blasphemy faith of his family and the other community , therefore he is not a real “secular humanists”, “freethinkers”, “rationalists” or “ethical culturalists”…


tedjo
2:26pm Feb 2, 2012

"if god does not exist,it would be necessary to invent him"-voltaire.

PeterSmith
1:46pm Feb 2, 2012

Any country that attempts to control what its citizens believe through the threat of prison sentences is far from being a democracy. The belief that there is no god is as legitimate as the belief that there is one (or in the case of Hinduism, many).

And on the topic of suicides, I can't remember when the last time I read about an atheist suicide bomber.

facepalm
11:54am Feb 2, 2012

Bawel - you ever see Deliverance?


The West Sumatran man facing five years in prison for blasphemy for questioning the existence of God may face additional charges, according to police.

Thirty-one-year-old Alexander Aan may also be charged with falsifying documents because he checked off Muslim when he applied for his civil servant position.

“He said he was an atheist, but when he applied for a job as civil servant he said he was Muslim,” Dharmasraya Police Chief Sr. Comr. Chairul Aziz said on Tuesday.
 
Local online outlet Padang Ekspres also said that during Alexander’s interrogation, police officers forced him to pick one of the six state-approved religions, even though he insisted he was an atheist.

“I will consider picking one of the religions in Indonesia,” Alexander told Padang Ekspres. “Most likely I will choose Islam.”

Members of the Ateis Minang Facebook page have doubled since news broke of Alexander’s arrest, but the page is now half filled with other users attacking atheism. The post police used to charge Alexander was deleted by the page administrator.

International atheist organizations have openly stated their support for Alexander.

“The real crime here is the physical assault on Aan, not his expression of his personal beliefs,” International Humanist and Ethical Union representative Matt Cherry said in a statement, adding that the union had asked the United Nations to raise the case with Indonesian authorities.

“Alexander simply expressed his view that there is no God,” said Tanya Smith, president of Atheist Alliance International. “In contrast, his attackers assaulted a real person and must be brought to justice.”